Two men under 20 charged in a kidnapping and extortion of a victim in Tustin made their first appearance in court Thursday as a third suspect remains at-large.
Ali Chahine, 18, and Mohamed Saleh, 19, are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping, and extortion, all felonies. Saleh is also charged with a felony count of attempting to dissuade a victim from going to authorities.
Hassan Saleh, 24, is at-large and charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping, extortion, and attempting to dissuade a victim from going to authorities, all felonies.
The three are accused of “pretending” online as wanting to meet the victim and then arranging to meet the victim in January to “ambush” him, according to the criminal complaint.
The defendants allegedly “used threats of extortion to put the victim in a vehicle against his will,” the complaint alleged.
The three “took money from the victim by accessing applications on his phone” and then drove him around to “various ATMs to withdraw money” they stole, the complaint alleged.
The victim was further “coerced” to get money from a friend, which was also stolen by the suspects, the complaint alleged.
The victim was contacted again the next day to get more money from him, the complaint alleged.
A “fake pesona” was used to lure the victim into the trap, the complaint alleged.
Chaine and Mohamed Saleh did not enter a plea at their arraignment Thursday in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, which was rescheduled for Aug. 5.