Jamaican gets three years for scamming

Montego Bay native Sereika Savariau has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for orchestrating a fraudulent debt relief scheme that targeted financially vulnerable Americans.

Savariau, 37, who also goes by Sereika Savariau-Goodison, pleaded guilty on April 16 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. In addition to her prison sentence, US District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered her to pay restitution to the victims.

According to her plea agreement, between June 2016 and September 2018, Savariau and her co-conspirators operated a network of fraudulent debt-relief companies. They deceived US citizens into paying fake processing fees and revealing personal identifying information. One of the fraudulent websites falsely claimed that consumers could receive up to US$60,000 (approximately J$9.4 million) in government aid to pay their bills, while another promised up to US$25,000 (approximately J$3.9 million) in annual debt relief.

Savariau and her co-conspirators attempted to defraud US victims of more than US$550,000 (approximately J$86.5 million). More than 50 individuals fell prey to the scheme, most sending money through Western Union as processing fees for the promised debt relief. Many of these victims, desperate to improve their financial situations, were victimised multiple times by the false promises of government aid.

The conspirators also misused the victims' personal information for other illegal purposes, such as creating PayPal accounts and applying for pre-paid credit cards. In one instance, a victim's details were used to register one of the fraudulent websites.

Savariau was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2021, arrested in Jamaica in July 2023, and extradited to the United States in September 2023.