A Peruvian national who established the technical backbone for a fraud ring that targeted thousands of US victims has been sentenced to 80 months behind bars.
In a press release, the U.S. Department of Justice says David Cornejo Fernandez, 36, of Lima, Peru, orchestrated a massive fraud scheme that drained millions of dollars from 8,800 Spanish-speaking victims across the US.
Court documents show that Fernandez provided internet-based telephone lines, spoofing software and recorded messages to a network of fraudulent call centers in Peru. Using Fernandez’s tools, the call centers made victims believe they were speaking with police departments, courts or federal agencies and falsely threatened them with court proceedings, fines and other consequences if they refused to purchase English-language products.
“When victims reported that specific telephone numbers were fraudulent, [Fernandez] provided new telephone lines and numbers to his co-conspirators so they could continue the fraudulent scheme”
Prosecutors say the scheme drained $3 million from victims all over the country.
Fernandez was extradited from Peru in November 2024 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud earlier this year. In addition to his prison sentence, Fernandez was ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution.
According to the DOJ, Fernandez’s fraud ring is part of a larger transnational scheme that targeted Spanish-speaking US consumers, which followed the same modus operandi. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida says 13 defendants have now been convicted and sentenced for defrauding more than 30,000 US consumers.
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