Federal prosecutors have filed a criminal charge against a man who has allegedly been extorting a New York-based physician and his wife for four years, according to court documents.
The man, 56-year-old Gary Drago, is facing federal charges for "extortion by means of threatening communication" and "tampering with a witness/victim." The victims — the physician and his wife — have not been identified by name. A FBI investigation led to the arrest and criminal complaint, which has been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.
Mr. Drago has been extorting the physician and his practice, Meridian Medicine in Williamsville, N.Y., for nearly half a decade. Initially, Mr. Drago asked for small amounts of money in the form of loans, but eventually, he forced the physician to enter into a business relationship with him. The physician told Christopher Dailey, a special agent for the FBI, that he was forced to withdraw thousands of dollars over the years. Mr. Drago threatened the physician with physical violence and death, and also threatened to hurt the physician's family as well as his reputation.
The FBI, New York State Police and Amherst Police Department arrested Mr. Drago on May 20, soon after the unidentified victims met with Mr. Dailey and described Mr. Drago's extortion scheme.
According to witnesses, Mr. Drago came to the physician's practice on May 19. Witnesses saw Mr. Drago leaving the practice with a hand on the physician's neck, leading him to a car. He allegedly told the patients that the physician would not see anymore patients that day.
Mr. Drago allegedly forced the physician to then tell Mr. Dailey that everything was okay and that the details the victims provided the FBI special agent were false. The next day, the physician made a sworn statement to the Amherst Police Department that on May 20 he had been "forcibly taken against [his] will from the business."
Mr. Drago has been detained and will soon appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder.