Husband, wife charged in extortion scheme

CHELSEA – A judge ordered $5,000 cash bail each for a husband-and-wife team who police said are part of a scamming network that uses information from social media to extort ransom money.”These types of scams have been occurring nationwide,” Revere Police wrote in an press release Tuesday. “The greater Boston area has had more than 180 reported cases in the last several weeks.”Jennifer Rodriguez and Jose Carasquillo were arrested Thursday in Springfield on warrants charging each with extortion with the threat of bodily injury. They were arraigned Friday in Chelsea District Court where pleas of not guilty were entered on each defendant’s behalf, according to police.Police said Rodriguez and Carasquillo convinced an alleged victim that the defendants had just had a motor vehicle accident with a member of the victim’s family. Rodriguez and Carasquillo allegedly claimed they were holding the family member at gunpoint and would execute the family member unless the victim immediately wired money via Western Union.Police said Rodriguez and Carasquillo are Puerto Rican natives and the scam is based out of that overseas territory. The defendants and their associates allegedly learned about their victim’s family member through social media sites including Facebook and Instagram.Prosecutors at the arraignment requested that each defendant be held on $10,000 cash bail. Chelsea District Court Judge D. Dunbar Livingston set bail for each defendant at $5,000 and scheduled them to return to court next month, according to Suffolk District Attorney Spokesperson Jake Wark.Revere Police advised anyone who received phone calls demanding the immediate transfer of money through wire services to hang up the phone, note the calling telephone number and call police at 781-284-1212. Police said scammers have claimed that a victim’s family member has been involved in an accident and/or is being held for ransom. Scammers have also called claiming to be an employee of a utility system, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Police said government agencies and private companies do not operate by demanding immediate money transfers, and officers asked the public to be wary of what they post online.