MIAMI — A Colombian national already facing state charges in the Miami and Orlando areas is now facing several federal charges ― including kidnapping and fraud ― after authorities said he was part of a scheme to drug and defraud older, wealthier men he met, with others, through the online dating application Grindr.

Records show that prosecutors filed a criminal complaint in Miami federal court against David Esteban Gallego Hoyos, 22, of Bogotá, on Friday.

According to the complaint, Gallego worked with co-conspirators, who weren’t all publicly identified, to target multiple victims in both Miami-Dade and Orange counties in October.

Miami victim

Investigators said the first victim was a 67-year-old Miami man. State and federal court documents state that the man conversed with a man named “David,” who was thin and lighter-skinned, on Grindr, primarily used by gay and bisexual men, and invited him to his apartment near Northwest 10th Avenue and North River Drive in the city’s Spring Garden neighborhood on Oct. 12.

“David,” investigators said, asked to bring a friend and the victim agreed. That friend, a “darker-skinned and heavy-set Hispanic male, who spoke Spanish and who claimed to be from the Dominican Republic‚" is believed to be Gallego. The complaint doesn’t identify who the other “David” is or is believed to be.

According to the federal complaint, the victim “stated that he felt normal while the two men were at his residence and that the two men subsequently left the residence.”

But investigators said the man woke up in bed 36 hours later, “feeling extremely ill, dizzy and disoriented,” leading him to believe he had been drugged. He fell down the stairs and left his home “in a visibly impaired state,” causing a groundskeeper to call 911. Medics took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he tested positive for benzodiazepines.

Authorities said he later found that his phone, laptop, wallet, several pieces of jewelry and thousands of dollars in cash were gone. They said he accessed his financial accounts and noticed thousands of dollars in transactions at Miami-area Apple stores. They said surveillance video showed Gallego and two others at the stores.

The man said he believed that the two “stole his house keys while they were present in the residence with him, drugged his wine and later returned to the apartment while he was incapacitated.” Authorities said he later found that his investment accounts had wiring instructions added to them and that the group had successfully applied for several new credit cards under his name, using them for tens of thousands of dollars in purchases.

By Oct. 18, Gallego had flown back to Bogotá.

Miami Beach victim

Gallego flew back to South Florida on Oct. 22 and hit the ground running upon his return, targeting another victim the very same night, according to the complaint.

Investigators said after conversing on Grindr, a 62-year-old Miami Beach man communicated with one of the suspects on Grindr and invited him and his friend, Gallego, to his condominium. The three bought beer, authorities said, before heading upstairs to his unit.

The victim, according to the complaint, “believed the meetup was for sex,” but “the chubby guy,” Gallego, “appeared to be postponing a sexual interaction to drink and hang out.”

Investigators said the victim fell asleep and woke up a few hours later to find his phone, $15,000 worth of jewelry, $200 and his car keys missing.

Miami Beach police dusted items in the home for fingerprints and found that they matched Gallego.

Orlando victims

Two days later, Gallego and his co-conspirators are accused of targeting two married men, aged 59 and 60, in Orlando.

According to the complaint, one of the men arranged a meetup between the couple and three men, one of them believed to be Gallego, at their downtown Orlando home.

Authorities said the couple had one drink but the men encouraged them to drink more.

“While Victim-3 was in the basement of the residence, one of the males brought Victim-3 a glass of wine,” the complaint states. “Victim-3 stated that the wine tasted bitter and he stopped drinking it. Victim-4 drank beer and did not recall his beverage tasting unusual.”

The 60-year-old said he remembered passing out on the floor and Gallego, whom he knew as “George,” picking him up and putting him in bed. The 59-year-old “also blacked out” and said he woke up a few hours later “to find that the house had been ransacked,” according to the complaint.

Their wallets, phones and jewelry were gone, authorities said, and their car keys had been placed in their dryer.

Federal authorities said the group went on “an almost $15,000 shopping spree at a local Apple Store” with the couple’s stolen cards. Orlando police said the group also spent $250 at a Denny’s near Walt Disney World.

Later, authorities said the couple noticed a charge at a pharmacy in Bogotá.

According to Orange County court documents, Orlando Police Department detectives later identified one of the other suspects as 30-year-old Jhon Alexander Gaviria Parra.

Gaviria wasn’t identified in federal court documents. Censored photos included in the federal complaint, including those taken in South Florida, appear to match unredacted photos of Gaviria included in an Orlando police warrant.

Arrest and charges

Authorities said Gallego had flown from Bogotá to Houston on Dec. 23. On New Year’s Day, as he tried to fly to El Salvador from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, authorities arrested him on a warrant connected to the Orlando case.

It was unclear as of Monday whether authorities suspected him or any other members of the group of committing crimes in Texas.

Gallego would later be extradited to Miami-Dade County after he posted bail in Orange County.

Authorities said on Feb. 25, Gallego told a Miami Beach Police Department detective that one of the men, whom he’s known for two to three years, had invited him to come to the United States to assist him with his “business,” which involved “shopping.”

According to the complaint, Gallego told detectives that his “role was to assist in translating because (the other man) spoke inadequate English.”

In a footnote, however, federal agents said that investigators believed that “to be false.”

“Numerous interviews with other victims indicated that (the other man) is particularly fluent in English,” they noted.

Additionally, Gallego said that his girlfriend, who was unaware of the group’s activities, had “paid for their rental car and lodging using her credit card.”

Gallego now faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft; conspiracy to commit kidnapping; kidnapping; bank fraud; wire fraud; and aggravated identity theft.

It’s not clear whether Gallego was in custody as of Monday afternoon and if so, where he was being held. Records show he was released from the Miami-Dade jail on March 7.

He doesn’t appear in local jail records in South Florida or in Orange County. He also doesn’t show up in a search of the Federal Bureau of Prisons database.

Federal court records list no scheduled court appearances.

However, he does have an April 2 hearing scheduled in Miami-Dade court in connection with the Spring Garden case, where he faces state charges of strong-armed robbery, organized fraud and grand theft.

He’s facing charges of burglary, grand theft and fraud in Orange County. Its court records listed no upcoming appearances as of Monday afternoon.

Local 10 News contacted South Florida attorney Robert Perez, who is representing Gallego in his Miami-Dade and federal cases, seeking comment on his client’s behalf on Monday afternoon.

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