A Peruvian national, David Cornejo Fernandez, has been sentenced to 80 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution for his role in a transnational fraud scheme that targeted Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States.
According to court documents, Cornejo, 36, from Lima, Peru, supported fraudulent operations by providing internet-based telephone lines, caller-ID spoofing services, and recording capabilities to call centers based in Peru. These call centers used his services to contact thousands of Spanish-speaking victims across the U.S., falsely threatening them with legal actions and fines if they did not pay for English-language products. Cornejo was extradited from Peru in November 2024 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in July.
In his plea agreement, Cornejo admitted he supplied technology that allowed call center operators to impersonate federal agents, police officers, attorneys, court personnel, and other government officials. He provided telephone lines for unsolicited calls aimed at extorting payments from vulnerable U.S. residents. Caller-ID spoofing software enabled co-conspirators to appear as legitimate authorities when contacting victims. Pre-recorded messages further convinced victims they were speaking with actual U.S. agencies or courts. When specific numbers were reported as fraudulent by victims, Cornejo supplied new lines so the operation could continue.
The scheme resulted in losses exceeding $3 million and affected more than 8,800 people nationwide.
With this sentencing by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, a total of 13 individuals have now been convicted and sentenced for their involvement in these scams targeting Spanish-speaking consumers with threats over supposed debts for English-language learning products they never requested. Collectively, these defendants defrauded more than 30,000 U.S. consumers.
The group included eight Peruvian call center owner-operators and four distribution center operators who processed payments and distributed products within the United States; Cornejo facilitated their activities from Peru. The defendants shared methods on impersonating U.S. government officials and defrauding Spanish-speaking residents.
Cornejo is the ninth defendant extradited from Peru and sentenced in federal court related to these schemes involving English language learning scams operated out of Peruvian call centers. In previous years, several other defendants received sentences ranging from 88 months to 110 months in prison.
The case was investigated by USPIS and the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch. Prosecution was handled by Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Carolyn Rice of the Consumer Protection Branch; Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda managed asset forfeiture proceedings.
Assistance came from multiple agencies including the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Peruvian National Prosecutor General’s Office, and Peruvian National Police.
The Justice Department continues efforts against similar schemes targeting Spanish-speaking residents across the country.
Victims aged 60 or older who have experienced financial fraud can access support through the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311), which provides personalized assistance including help reporting incidents and accessing resources in English or Spanish.
Further information about elder justice initiatives is available on the Elder Justice Initiative webpage (https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice). Details on consumer protection enforcement can be found at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch (https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch). Elder fraud complaints may also be filed with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/) or by calling 877-FTC-HELP.