THREE MEMBERS OF AN INTERNATIONAL EXTORTION PLOT CONVICTED

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that a federal jury in Fort. Lauderdale, Florida returned verdicts of guilt as to defendants, Alexander Bornscheuer, age 49 of Deerfield Beach, Florida; Reinhard Berkau, age 52 of Hamburg, Germany; and Eberhard Wahl, age 47 of Boca Raton, Florida and Leipzig, Germany. The defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951, and foreign travel in aid of racketeering enterprises, in violation of Title 18, United States Codes, Section 1952, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 (Count 1); extortion (Count 2); foreign travel in aid of racketeering enterprises as to defendants Bornscheuer and Berkau (Counts 3 and 4, respectively). Sentencing is scheduled for June 29, 2006 before United States District Court Judge William Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of five (5) years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine as to Count 1, conspiracy, and twenty (20) years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine as to Count 2, extortion. Defendants Bornscheuer and Berkau face a statutory maximum sentence of twenty (20) years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine as to Counts 3 and 4, foreign travel in aid of racketeering enterprises, respectively.

The convictions are based upon the defendants’ efforts to extort property of victims C.F. and S.F., by threatening: (1) to physically harm C.F. and S.F. and their children; (2) to file criminal charges against C.F.; and (3) to contact United States immigration officials to have the visas of C.F. and S.F. revoked if C.F. and S.F. did not pay the defendants approximately $1,500,000, forgive approximately $1,000,000 of debt, and cancel a $595,000 mortgage on the Deerfield Beach, Florida residence of Alexander Bornscheuer. Defendant Bornscheuer is the author of “Privacy Please” which details how to hide assets in certain foreign locales renowned as tax havens. Defendant Berkau is a practicing criminal defense attorney in Hamburg, Germany.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Clark.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.