Two individuals have been taken into custody in Ross County, accused of running a PayPal scam that cost a resident nearly $59,000. The Ross County Sheriff's Office reported that the victim was bilked out of $44,000 through electronic transfer and a further $15,000 in cash when the suspects made a physical appearance at their home, as per ABC6 On Your Side.
The two arrested have been identified as Rodrigo Garcia-Lavera, 33, and Neiker Jose Rodriguez Teran, 28, these suspects were apprehended by the U.S. 23 Major Crimes Task Force working alongside the sheriff's office on Thursday, Sheriff George W. Lavender Jr. also noted in an interview, as reported by Scioto Post that both suspects might not have been in the United States lawfully both suspects had later attempted to squeeze the victim for additional money yet the scheme was thwarted when law enforcement intervened.
Upon their arrest, authorities seized over $15,000 in cash from Garcia-Lavera and Rodriguez Teran; the money taken is now part of the evidence cache related to the scam. The Chillicothe Gazette reported that these men have yet to be formally charged, hence their names have only recently been disclosed following their detention.
Additional aid in the investigation is being sought from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with Sheriff Lavender signaling the case's complexity and potential for more charges as the inquiry proceeds.
