By Jun Medina
INQUIRER.net (The Philippines)
WASHINGTON DC, United States—Federal authorities arrested last week Mary Ann Smith, a Filipina who is wanted in the Philippines, for allegedly defrauding immigrants trying to bring family members in the United States.
Smith, vice president for marketing of International Business Network (IBN), was apprehended by agents of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Seattle, Washington following intense investigation by the enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Central Virginia.
"We received a complaint a year ago from a consumer who had paid thousands of dollars to secure visas for Cambodian relatives to enter the US," said Tom Gallagher, the local BBB’s president and CEO. "Even after receiving more than $40,000, IBN allegedly demanded payment of additional fees to cover such things as health insurance."
Gallagher said part of the funds was to be used for the purchase of airline tickets, but the tickets were never purchased.
Gallagher said his office received similar complaints, prompting them to investigate with the help of federal agents.
“We’re delighted that we can assist law enforcement in shutting down scam artists of this kind. There’s no place for a company like this in a marketplace that strives to operate with trust and integrity,” Gallagher said.
In Manila, Vera Files last week reported that Smith (formerly Mary Ann Maslog) has been implicated in a P200-million textbook scam in 1999 and has a standing arrest warrant from the Sandiganbayan for allegedly trying to bribe Budget and Management officials.
Smith, then married to Rommel Maslog (who was elected vice mayor of Talisayan, Misamis Oriental in last month's elections) was summoned in 1999 by the Senate Blue Ribbon and Education, Arts and Culture Committees during investigations of corruption in the purchase of the textbooks for public schools.
She had delivered P3 million to the office of then Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who asked National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the matter, Vera Files said.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in its June 16 issue that Smith, 41, is awaiting extradition to Memphis, Tennessee, where she will stand trial for her role in IBN, the Virginia company that used to maintain offices in Henrico County at Paragon Place off Glenside Drive and received money to facilitate student visas for students coming to the United States.
The company charged as much as $6,480 per student to gain access to visas when, according to a federal indictment issued in Memphis, "visa 'fixers” or 'brokers' had no special access to the United States government that could enable such individuals, agencies, or companies to arrange for a student visa."
In some cases, the company also offered permanent resident status or green cards, according to the April indictment. Unidentified victims lost about $34,000, officials said.
The Times-Dispatch report cited the case of Chesterfield County businessman, Tany Roth, who said that he lost as much as $45,000 to IBN in an effort to bring three relatives to this country from Cambodia for study and to facilitate an adoption.
Roth said he sent the company checks but never received any services, and that Smith canceled meetings and disappeared. Roth's experience is not part of the federal indictment.
Smith is charged with six counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. No trial date has been scheduled.
Following reports of Smith's arrest, more victims are coming forward with different kinds of scams, big and small.
For instance, Filipino journalist Ellen Tordesillas reported about a US-based Filipina who said she was victimized by Mary Ann and her American husband, Michael Lee Smith.
“She (Smith) posed as someone from Grant USA and they gave us seminars on grant writing where about 10 of us paid $50 each for a one-day seminar,” the woman, who asked that her identity be withheld, told Tordesillas. “They claimed to have an office in Makati. We later found out about a month after our seminar that they’re not connected with Grant USA.”
The woman added, “I just want to attest that she’s been going in and out of the Philippines, and I am certain that she and Michael Smith have been victimizing Filipinos through their lies because that’s what they did to us.”
Vera Files earlier reported that Smith is also facing charges of grand theft amounting to more than $100,000 and scheme to defraud in the amount of $50,000.
Smith, vice president for marketing of International Business Network (IBN), was apprehended by agents of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Seattle, Washington following intense investigation by the enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Central Virginia.
"We received a complaint a year ago from a consumer who had paid thousands of dollars to secure visas for Cambodian relatives to enter the US," said Tom Gallagher, the local BBB’s president and CEO. "Even after receiving more than $40,000, IBN allegedly demanded payment of additional fees to cover such things as health insurance."
Gallagher said part of the funds was to be used for the purchase of airline tickets, but the tickets were never purchased.
Gallagher said his office received similar complaints, prompting them to investigate with the help of federal agents.
“We’re delighted that we can assist law enforcement in shutting down scam artists of this kind. There’s no place for a company like this in a marketplace that strives to operate with trust and integrity,” Gallagher said.
In Manila, Vera Files last week reported that Smith (formerly Mary Ann Maslog) has been implicated in a P200-million textbook scam in 1999 and has a standing arrest warrant from the Sandiganbayan for allegedly trying to bribe Budget and Management officials.
Smith, then married to Rommel Maslog (who was elected vice mayor of Talisayan, Misamis Oriental in last month's elections) was summoned in 1999 by the Senate Blue Ribbon and Education, Arts and Culture Committees during investigations of corruption in the purchase of the textbooks for public schools.
She had delivered P3 million to the office of then Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who asked National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the matter, Vera Files said.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in its June 16 issue that Smith, 41, is awaiting extradition to Memphis, Tennessee, where she will stand trial for her role in IBN, the Virginia company that used to maintain offices in Henrico County at Paragon Place off Glenside Drive and received money to facilitate student visas for students coming to the United States.
The company charged as much as $6,480 per student to gain access to visas when, according to a federal indictment issued in Memphis, "visa 'fixers” or 'brokers' had no special access to the United States government that could enable such individuals, agencies, or companies to arrange for a student visa."
In some cases, the company also offered permanent resident status or green cards, according to the April indictment. Unidentified victims lost about $34,000, officials said.
The Times-Dispatch report cited the case of Chesterfield County businessman, Tany Roth, who said that he lost as much as $45,000 to IBN in an effort to bring three relatives to this country from Cambodia for study and to facilitate an adoption.
Roth said he sent the company checks but never received any services, and that Smith canceled meetings and disappeared. Roth's experience is not part of the federal indictment.
Smith is charged with six counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. No trial date has been scheduled.
Following reports of Smith's arrest, more victims are coming forward with different kinds of scams, big and small.
For instance, Filipino journalist Ellen Tordesillas reported about a US-based Filipina who said she was victimized by Mary Ann and her American husband, Michael Lee Smith.
“She (Smith) posed as someone from Grant USA and they gave us seminars on grant writing where about 10 of us paid $50 each for a one-day seminar,” the woman, who asked that her identity be withheld, told Tordesillas. “They claimed to have an office in Makati. We later found out about a month after our seminar that they’re not connected with Grant USA.”
The woman added, “I just want to attest that she’s been going in and out of the Philippines, and I am certain that she and Michael Smith have been victimizing Filipinos through their lies because that’s what they did to us.”
Vera Files earlier reported that Smith is also facing charges of grand theft amounting to more than $100,000 and scheme to defraud in the amount of $50,000.
1 comment:
glad they caught people like that! the US don't put up with illegal activity like this!
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