YAKIMA, Wash.- A federal grand jury has indicted a man for wire fraud totaling $39,000 and impersonating a U.S. Marshal, according to the Eastern District of Washington’s Attorney’s Office.
U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref says Charmmorro Vijay Strothers rented a car and drove from Seattle to Yakima where a co-schemer called a victim impersonating a law enforcement officer and claiming she had an active warrant.
The victim was told to secure a bail bond of $14,000 to stay out of jail. Strothers collected the money from the victim, providing a receipt with a fake case number.
Strothers and his co-schemer repeated this trick again, for $25,000 the second time. When asked by the victim, Strothers told her he didn’t have to provide any identity or badge number because he was a U.S. Marshal.
“Impersonating a law enforcement officer and using the threat of arrest to commit fraud is an affront to our justice system and the men and women in law enforcement who work to keep our communities safe,” said United States Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref. “My office is committed to stopping all fraudsters, no matter the shape or scope of their schemes.”
The United States Secret Service is investigating, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Pratten will be prosecuting.
