Man Charged in Extortion Scheme Involving Former Philadelphia Police Inspector
U.S. Attorney’s Office February 03, 2011 |
PHILADELPHIA—Alan Kats was charged in an information1 today with offenses related to an extortion scheme to collect a $36,000 debt owed to the defendant, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the information, Kats, along with co-conspirator William Wong, hired a “collector” to use violence and threats of violence to collect the debt from a former business associate. The collector was referred to Kats and Wong by Carlo Daniel Castro, who, at the time, was an inspector with the Philadelphia Police Department, and who had himself hired the collector to collect a debt owed to him. Unbeknownst to Kats, Wong, and Castro, the collector was actually an undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kats is charged with one count of attempted extortionate collection of credit.
INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANTS
NAME: Alan Kats
ADDRESS: Philadelphia
AGE OR YEAR OF BIRTH: 1963
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $100.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Leo R. Tsao.
1 An Indictment or Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.