'You're going to die in Canada': U.S. suspect charged in cross-border extortion threats
CBC
American authorities have charged a suspect in California following a cross-border investigation into death threats against a Canadian-based extortion target of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in California, Jasmeet Singh made repeated calls threatening a victim who moved to Canada after helping Indian law enforcement identify and arrest two suspected blackmailers in that country.
A criminal complaint obtained by CBC News says the victim — called Victim 1 in the court documents — contacted RCMP when Singh allegedly sent a photograph of the victim's vehicle "parked outside of his residence."
"Singh told Victim 1 that '...you're going to die in Canada,'" says the complaint, which was written by FBI agent Brian Toy.
"I believe that Singh sent this photo to reinforce that the threat he was making to Victim 1 was backed up by the ability to carry out the threat," the complaint adds.
"In particular, the photo is circumstantial proof that, although Singh said he was in the United States, Singh has associates in Canada who were able to obtain a photo of Victim 1's vehicle."
The 14-page criminal complaint, charging Singh with interstate communication of threats of violence, was filed at the end of November in the Eastern District of California.
The allegations are the latest in a series of incidents linking a wave of extortion-related violence in Canadian communities to the Bishnoi gang — which was listed as a terrorist entity accused of "terror, violence and intimidation" in September by the federal government
The case provides a window into the complexities of the challenges facing investigators trying to unravel a chain of events spanning continents, courts and communications devices.
Toy's affidavit doesn't specify the Canadian city where the victim relocated, except to say they live in the Pacific time zone, which means it's in British Columbia.
According to the U.S. court documents, Toy works as a special agent with the FBI's Sacremento office, which is investigating a number of criminal activities linked to the Bishnoi gang.
Gang leader Lawrence is accused of running the outfit from behind bars in India.
Toy says the FBI started looking into Singh after they were approached by the RCMP, who were contacted by the victim following a string of threats in May 2024.
The victim's dealings with the Bishnoi gang allegedly date back to July 2022, when they lived in India and befriended a woman and her associate who blackmailed the victim "by threatening to make rape allegations" unless they paid the equivalent of $239,000 US.
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