A Tijuana-based ring random-dialed up to 5,000 calls a day and collected $190,000 from 124 Latino families
Ruth Graciela Raygoza, of Chula Vista, California, Maria Del Carmen Pulido Contreras, of East Los Angeles, and brothers Adrian Jovan Rocha and Jonathan Rocha, both American citizens living in Tijuana, Mexico, ran a virtual kidnapping ring from 2007 using roughly 30 San Diego phone numbers to place up to 5,000 calls a day, falsely telling families, largely in the Washington, D.C. area's Central American immigrant community, that a relative being smuggled into the United States had been kidnapped. Victims were told to wire $1,500 to $4,000 through MoneyGram or Western Union to San Diego or Los Angeles, where the four defendants collected it, kept roughly a 10% commission, and sent the rest to co-conspirators in Mexico. An undercover Homeland Security Investigations operation, in which an agent posed as a victim's son, led to Adrian Jovan Rocha's arrest after he picked up a $700 ransom payment. The four were indicted in November 2013, pleaded guilty in July 2014 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money, and were sentenced in January 2015 to prison terms of three years and four months, one year and nine months (two defendants), and one year and three months. Prosecutors said the ring collected at least $500,000 overall since 2007, with $190,000 tied to the 124 families named at sentencing.
- Year
- 2015
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $190,000
- Victims
- 124
- Schemes
- Virtual kidnapping scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-05
The facts, as recorded
- Defendants: Ruth Graciela Raygoza, 63 to 64, of Chula Vista, California; Maria Del Carmen Pulido Contreras, 42 to 43, of East Los Angeles; and brothers Adrian Jovan Rocha, 25 to 27, and Jonathan Rocha, 23 to 24, both American citizens living in Tijuana, Mexico.
- The ring used roughly 30 San Diego-area phone numbers to randomly dial up to 5,000 calls a day, with no real information about who would answer.
- Callers falsely claimed a relative being smuggled into the US had been kidnapped during the crossing, a premise that was plausible because families often expect a relative to be briefly unreachable during an illegal crossing.
- The scheme primarily targeted the Washington, D.C. area's Central American immigrant community, exploiting the large population there with relatives attempting to cross the border.
- Victims were instructed to wire $1,500 to $4,000 per payment via MoneyGram or Western Union to locations in San Diego and Los Angeles.
- A Homeland Security Investigations undercover agent posed as a victim's son and had a $700 ransom payment picked up by Adrian Jovan Rocha, leading to his arrest.
- The four defendants collected the wired funds, kept approximately 10% as a courier commission, and sent the remainder to co-conspirators in Mexico.
- Two other participants, a married couple, were arrested earlier and pleaded guilty to money laundering.
- An indictment was unsealed on November 8, 2013. All four pleaded guilty in July 2014 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
- Sentenced on January 27, 2015: Raygoza to 3 years 4 months; Pulido Contreras to 1 year 9 months; Adrian Jovan Rocha to 1 year 9 months; Jonathan Rocha to 1 year 3 months.
- Prosecutors said the ring had collected at least $500,000 since 2007; $190,000 and 124 victimized families were cited at sentencing. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy called it 'a cruel hoax that caused significant emotional and financial damage.'
What the record shows
This ring did not need to know anything about the people it called. Dialing up to 5,000 numbers a day from a small pool of San Diego phone lines, the callers claimed a relative crossing the US border illegally had instead been kidnapped, a premise that landed because many families with relatives attempting that crossing already expect a period of silence. Victims were told to wire $1,500 to $4,000 through MoneyGram or Western Union; the four defendants picked up the money on the US side, kept roughly a tenth of it, and moved the rest toward Mexico.
The case broke when a Homeland Security Investigations agent posed as a victim’s adult son and let Adrian Jovan Rocha collect a staged $700 payment, leading to his arrest and the indictment of the other three.
Why this case matters
This is the volume-dialing version of the scheme: no research, no targeting, just enough calls that some fraction of recipients happen to have a relative who could plausibly be out of contact. It demonstrates that a virtual kidnapping ring needs no information advantage over its victims at all, only scale and a plausible cover story, and it shows the courier layer, the people who physically collect wired cash, as the point where years of running a scheme finally become an arrest.
The caveat
All four defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced, so the account here is a proven legal outcome rather than an allegation. The $500,000 total since 2007 and the $190,000/124-family figures come from prosecutors’ own statements and are not independently itemized per family in the sources available; this page does not claim every one of the 124 families lost an equal amount. The identities and fate of the co-conspirators across the border in Mexico are not detailed in these sources.
Sources
- Extortion suspects accused of running bogus kidnapping ring. NBC San Diego. Accessed 2026-10-05. Supports: The four defendants' names, ages and locations, the random-dialing method, the MoneyGram/Western Union ransom collection, the undercover HSI operation and Adrian Jovan Rocha's arrest, and HSI Special Agent Daniel Page's quote.
- 4 charged in virtual kidnappings in San Diego. KPBS. Accessed 2026-10-05. Supports: The scheme's 2007 start date, the roughly 30 phone numbers and up to 5,000 daily calls, the targeting of the Washington, D.C.-area immigrant community, the at-least-$500,000 total since 2007, the roughly 10% courier commission, and the married couple who pleaded guilty earlier.
- Four sentenced in California cross-border extortion ring. Associated Press, via Yahoo News. Accessed 2026-10-05. Supports: The January 27, 2015 sentences for all four defendants, the July 2014 guilty pleas, the 124 families and nearly $200,000 figure, the $1,500-to-$4,000 individual ransom demands, and U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy's quote describing it as 'a cruel hoax'.