Louisiana Man Charged with Wire Fraud, Extortion in Interstate Communications, Attempted Escape, and Assault on an Officer
Louisiana Man Charged with Wire Fraud, Extortion in Interstate Communications, Attempted Escape, and Assault on an Officer
Louisiana – United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that a federal grand jury recently returned a fifteen-count indictment charging Monty Matthews, age 52, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with wire fraud, extortion in interstate communications, attempted escape, and assault on an officer.
According to the indictment, Matthews devised a fraud scheme targeting elderly victims between the summer of 2017 and March 2022, resulting in a loss of more than $1 million. Throughout the scheme’s duration, Matthews would send false and, at times, threatening messages to the victims via cellular phone in order to induce them to make and continue to make investments in the form of cash that could only be delivered to him. Matthews, on the other hand, never invested any of the victims’ money or returned any type of refund, profit, dividend, interest, or other thing of value to them.
After his arrest on March 23, 2022, Matthews tried to escape from the custody of FBI agents and assaulted two FBI special agents in the process.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office are investigating, with assistance from Acadian Ambulance personnel, and Assistant United States Attorney Paul L. Pugliese is prosecuting.
An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.
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