A Brookhaven man has been accused of fraud for extorting a criminal defendant who had been charged in a federal case in Atlanta, a statement has said.
Jamal Harrison, 33, falsely claimed that the federal prosecutor would dismiss the charges in the defendant's case for $15,000.
“Harrison allegedly promised a favourable outcome in the victim’s federal case when instead it was just a scam," said acting US Attorney Kurt R Erskine.
In July 2020, an unnamed Atlanta resident was arrested on a criminal indictment filed in the US District Court in Georgia.
According to an official statement, Harrison learned about the arrest and met with the defendant in August last year. He allegedly pretended to be a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) employee and said the prosecutor would drop the person’s charges in exchange for a bribe.
Days later, Harrison met the man again and threatened the man. Then he paid Harrison $12,000 in cash, and he allegedly kept the payment.
However, by January 2021, the federal case against Atlanta resident remained active. Then the man realised that Harrison had deceived and extorted him, the statement further said.
Next month, he entered a guilty plea in the federal case. In March 2021, the Atlanta native recorded a meeting at which the defendant gave Harrison $3,000 in cash.
On August 24, a grand jury returned an indictment against Harrison on six counts of wire fraud. This case is being investigated by the FBI.
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