This past summer, federal and local law enforcement agencies in New York City unsealed a two-count indictment charging nine individuals with racketeering and extortion in a conspiracy involving a restoration company.
According to the indictment, the defendants took control of First Response Cleaning Corp., a Brooklyn-based company that provides fire damage restoration. The defendants used First Response as a vehicle to extort other fire mitigation firms and to assert control over the industry using violence and threats of violence.