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Lynn woman charged with ransom extortion plot against Bostonians

LozadaBoston Police report an arrest in connection with a scheme in which Bostonians would be called and ordered to pay ransom for kidnapped relatives - who turned out not to be kidnapped:

In all of the incidents, victims are contacted via phone and told that a relative has been kidnapped; money is then demanded for the safe release of the alleged kidnapping victim. The specific details of these incidents vary; however, almost all of the victims have been Hispanic.

Victims were ordered to use Wester Union to wire money to the "kidnapper," police say.

Mary R. Lozada, 34, of Lynn is charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, larceny over $250 and extortion by false report of a crime. She is charged in connection with two specific incidents involving calls to residents of Jamaica Plain and Mission Hill last month, but police say their investigation continues.

Innocent, etc.

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Lozada was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail at her arraignment in Roxbury District Court, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.

Prosecutors say Lozada might have been involved in as many as 30 extortion attempts in Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Lynn. Phones seized from Lozada have been tracked to eight attempts, only one of which succeeded, the DA's office says. In a statement, the DA's office described its version of the two extortion calls for which Lozada was charged today:

The first came on June 8, when a Jamaica Plain woman received a phone call from a male who spoke to her in Spanish, stated he had her son, and threatened to kill him if she did not wire the captors $1500. The victim told Boston Police that the caller ultimately settled for $700, which she wired to "Amarilis Cordova" via Western Union. The woman was later able to make contact with her son, who was at a friend’s house and had not been kidnapped.

The second scheme was perpetrated June 9 on a Dorchester man who also received a call from a male speaking in Spanish. This time, the caller posed as a friend of the victim’s son, saying that the son was being held against his will and wouldn't be released until his captors were wired $1,000. The victim was able to negotiate the ransom to $500, which was also wired to "Amarilis Cordova" through Western Union. As with the earlier incident, the victim later learned that his son was never in danger.

Lozada allegedly collected the money from the first call at 43 Broad St. in Lynn and the second at 35 Washington St., also in Lynn. Her presence at those locations was established through a photographic array and surveillance images.

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