A man has been arrested and charged with running a multi-state telephone bail scam, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Raymond Jacquez, 26, of Paterson, New Jersey, has been charged with theft by deception, conspiracy to commit impersonation, and insurance fraud.
Jacquez is the alleged leader of a network that committed telephone bail scams in Florida, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington State.
“Victims received telephone calls from someone claiming to be a relative who was arrested, or a lawyer working for the relative. The victims were urgently asked to wire money to a bank account in Paterson,” authorities said. “The scam resulted in numerous senior citizens wiring tens of thousands of dollars to bank accounts controlled by Jaquez and his co-conspirators. The victims later found out that the story was fictitious and their relative was not in jail.”
Unrelated to his phone scam, Jaquez allegedly filed a fraudulent insurance claim related to a car accident.
Jacquez could face more than 20 years in state prison if convicted on the charges.