The New York Attorney General announced the arrest of three men for an elaborate phone extortion scheme that was run upstate, but targeted residents in Nassau County.

According to Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood, Giovani Ayala-Rodriguez, a.k.a. "George Peters," 27, of Puerto Rico, and co-conspirators Eligio Jimenez-Correa, 40, and Orlando Gonzalez-Rivera, 26, both of Syracuse, were arrested for the scheme that operated in Onondaga and targeted people in counties throughout New York. "As we allege, the defendants engaged in a shameful scheme to terrorize and rob New Yorkers," said Underwood. "Today's takedown should send an unmistakable message to those who seek to extort New Yorkers: you will not get away with it."



The investigation identified more 55 victims in Onondaga, Kings, Nassau, Oneida, Madison, Oswego, Cayuga, Niagara, Cortland, and Genesee counties. After multiple complaints from victims who received telephone calls from a person claiming to have kidnapped or otherwise detained their family members, the New York State Police and the Attorney General's office opened an investigation.

According to Underwood, Ayala-Rodriguez, the alleged ringleader of the scheme, called victims and claimed that their close relatives were in a car accident that resulted in injury to his nephew. Ayala-Rodriguez would say he had taken the victim's sibling, spouse or parent from the accident scene to a nearby residence, Underwood said. During the conversation, Underwood said that Ayala-Rodriguez would demand money from the victim, claiming that his injured relative did not have any insurance to pay related bills. Ayala-Rodriguez would threaten physically harm to the victims' family members if a ransom was not paid, said Underwood. To further instill fear and compliance with his demands, Underwood said, Ayala-Rodriguez claimed that he was a drug dealer and/or gang member. When victims hesitated to comply, Underwood said that Ayala-Rodriguez threatened to shoot their relatives.

According to prosecutors, some victims were directed to pay the ransom money by following a series of instructions to deliver the money to specific locations in the City of Syracuse. In other instances, victims were allegedly directed to pay ransom money using various forms of wire transfers to specific accounts in the United States and/or Puerto Rico, including Walmart-to-Walmart transfers. According to prosecutors, Jimenez-Correa and Orlando-Rivera participated in the scheme by picking up the money.

"Our investigation uncovered a ruthless scheme designed to extort money from the victims through fear and intimidation, and this type of criminal activity simply will not be tolerated," said New York State Police Superintendent George Beach. "I commend our Special Investigations Unit and our partners at the Attorney General's Office for their hard work to hold these suspects accountable for their actions, and deliver justice for their victims."



After paying the ransom money, prosecutors said that victims were directed to area hospitals to pick up their relatives, only to learn that they were the victims of a hoax, and that their relatives had never been in car accidents or abducted. Ayala-Rodriguez is charged with three counts of second-degree grand larceny, three counts of attempted second-degree grand larceny, three counts of first-degree coercion and one count of fourth-degree conspiracy. Jimenez-Correa is charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, once count of attempted second-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree coercion and one count of fourth-degree conspiracy. Gonzalez-Rivera is charged with one count of second-degree grand larceny, one count of attempted second-degree grand larceny, one count of first-degree coercion and one count of fourth-degree conspiracy. If convicted of all counts, Ayala-Rodriguez and Jimenez-Correa face up to 10 to 20 years in prison; Gonzalez-Rivera faces up to 7 1/3 to 20 years in prison.