Hall County deputies arrested a Gainesville woman on Thursday for extorting money from a wife and husband by claiming to be a law enforcement officer.
Deputies took Olga Beatrice Villarreal, 51, into custody on June 29 at her Willow Oak Drive residence. Investigators obtained arrest warrants earlier in the day for charges of theft by extortion and conspiracy to commit a crime (theft by extortion).
According to the preliminary investigation, Villarreal extorted money from the Gainesville couple by claiming to be an immigration agent. She took cash payments from each victim after threatening them with deportation, the sheriff’s office reports.
Investigators say Villarreal collected approximately $40,000 total from the couple, roughly $20,000 each, between January 2019 and June 2023.
Police charged Villarreal with similar offenses earlier this week in a separate investigation by the Gainesville Police Department (GPD). The two victims in the sheriff’s office case came forward after seeing news of Villarreal’s arrest on GPD’s social media.
Villarreal is being held in the Hall County Jail without bond. The case remains under investigation.
