PORT ANGELES — A second suspect has been arrested in connection with an elaborate scheme that robbed a 71 year-old Sequim woman out of a total of $125,000 according to a press release from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Pralay Kumar Kar, 39, was arrested Friday, March 21, by members of the Snohomish Regional Task Force from his residence at an apartment complex in the 16000 block of North Road in Bothell and transported to Clallam County Jail where he was booked for first-degree theft and second-degree extortion.
His arrest followed that of Alla Mashkova 35, of Tacoma, by Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies on March 12. She was booked into Clallam County Jail for second degree extortion and first-degree theft.
Kar ($200,000) and Mashkova ($50,000) were each released on bond.
According to a Sheriff’s Department press release, “This was an extremely well organized and complex scam involving multiple suspects who controlled the victim through fear by threatening and lying to her. Thankfully, the victim’s bank manager alerted her that she was being scammed, which led to this investigation.”
It began on March 2, when a Sequim woman called local law enforcement to say that a man claiming to be from the “Amazon Fraud Department” had connected her with another man claiming to be a Federal Trade Commission agent who told her she was implicated in a money laundering scheme.
The “agent” convinced the woman she had to hand over money to the FTC to prove her innocence, the Sheriff’s Office said. She was told to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars in cash out of her bank, wrap it in duct tape and deliver it to an “agent” who would be sitting in a vehicle at a Sequim business.
As part of the sting, the Sequim woman drove to the business and and gave money to the “agent,” who turned out to be Mashkova.
Detectives identified Kar as its instigator of the scheme in the process of their investigation.
Clallam County Sheriff’s detectives coordinated with the Snohomish Regional Task Force to locate and arrest Kar. After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement seized nine computers, 80 cell phones and evidence suggesting Kar had received thousands of dollars for his role in scamming innocent people.
Mashkova is scheduled to be arraigned in Clallam County Superior Court on Thursday, March 27.
The Sheriff’s Office encouraged people to reach out for assistance if they believed they have been scammed. It can be reached at 360-417-2262. Online tips can be submitted on the office website at tinyurl.com/bdnc8tfb.
