WASHINGTON (CMC) – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says a Jamaican has been charged in a debt relief scam. Goodison is wanted in the US for mail fraud, wire fraud and lottery scamming activities while Reynolds is wanted for murder and other serious offences.
39-year-old Iyana Reynolds was also apprehended during separate special operations in Jamaica and extradited to the US.
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According to the DOJ, Sereika Savariau, also known as Sereika Savariau-Goodison, 36, of Jamaica, appeared in US federal court on Friday and was arraigned on an eight-count indictment charging her with creating a series of fraudulent debt relief companies that tricked US victims into paying fees and disclosing personal identifying and sensitive information, and identity documents, to obtain debt relief, “which did not actually exist”.
On December 2, 2021, a US federal grand jury returned an eight-count sealed indictment charging Savariau with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, four counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
The indictment states that, between 2016 and 2018, Savariau conspired with others to profit from fees paid by victims of fraudulent debt relief companies.
The indictment alleges that conspirators created and operated fraudulent businesses and websites that marketed and sold fraudulent debt relief services to members of the public.
“Conspirators fraudulently misrepresented that members of the public could apply for and obtain thousands of dollars’ worth of debt relief on their outstanding, unpaid bills in the form of grants, all in exchange for payment of a service processing fee,” the indictment says. “Conspirators also claimed that the purported debt relief was funded and administered by the US government.”
Through their false representations, the DOJ said Savariau and her co-conspirators are alleged to have induced or attempted to induce victims throughout the United States to pay over a million dollars’ worth of service processing fees to Savariau and her co-conspirators via Western Union, Money Gram, PayPal and other payment mechanisms.
The DOJ said Savariau arrived in the Washington, DC metropolitan area on Thursday after being extradited from Jamaica.
At Friday’s initial appearance, the DOJ said Judge Zia M. Faruqui ordered that Savariau be held without bond pending her next hearing, which is scheduled for September 20.
