FBI Identifies Suspect in Cross-Country Bomb Threats

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Members and employees of U.S. New Mexico FCU were evacuated last Thursday after a bomb threat demanding money was called in, one of more than two dozen bomb threats across the country being probed in an international investigation. The FBI and Interpol have identified a suspect in Portugal who is apparently using bomb scares to extort cash from U.S. businesses. The targeted businesses–which include several Wal-Mart stores, a U.S. Bank branch in Cincinnati, a Safeway in Sandy, Ore., and a Macy’s in Orem, Utah–have wired more than $13,000 to the suspect through Western Union. In Newport, R.I., employees at a Wal-Mart received three calls last Tuesday morning and wired three payments totaling $10,000 to an account out of the country. At a Dillon’s grocery store in Hutchinson, Kan., customers took off their clothes after the caller threatened to detonate a bomb. An FBI agent told The Credit Union Journal Friday the number of businesses threatened had risen to more than 24. At the end of last week, two suspects were arrested for copycat threats, he said.