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U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly and Patricia M. Ferrick, special agent in charge of the New Haven division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that 54-year-old Yonkers resident Robert Francella and 43-year-old Ernest Syku, of the Bronx, were recently arrested "on a federal criminal complaint charging them with collection of an extension of credit by extortionate means," according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The two are "alleged to have threatened a Connecticut resident with violence in order to induce this individual to pay an alleged $240,000 debt," according to the release.
Syku and Francella appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in Bridgeport and were detained pending detention hearings following the arrests. If convicted of the charge of collection of an extension of credit by extortionate means, both men face a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000, according to the release.
The matter is being investigated by the FBI Fairfield County Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the Bridgeport Police Department and the Connecticut State Police.
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