Interpol has arrested 54-year-old Canadian Carlo Antonio Testore.
Wanted on an arrest warrant for fraud from the Western District Court of North Carolina, the Canadian is in custody awaiting the results of an extradition request filed by the United States.
Interpol spokesman Emilio León said Testore, who was taken into custody last Friday, is charged with money laundering.
A North Carolina court deputy said the warrant is “on account of this sweepstakes thing where they call people and tell them they’ve won and get them to give up their personal account information.”
Testore’s was the latest arrest in an alleged con operation, which police say involved 36 others, many of whom have been arrested on Tico soil.
The con consisted of calling victims on the phone to tell them they had won a prize of between $300,000 and $450,000, which required payment of a “security deposit” before the award could be retrieved.
Interpol arrested U.S. citizen Severin Marcel Stone, who owns a raw food restaurant in Escazú, in January for allegedly being part of the same sweepstakes fraud (TT, Feb. 1).
Stone remains in Costa Rica, fighting his extradition to the United States based on his marriage to a Tica.
His restaurant has recently been put up for sale.
