MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A trio of Jamaican nationals were arrested Thursday and charged separately for their roles in a Jamaican-based telemarketing fraud scheme.
Shanice Ethridge, 24, of Broward County, was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, with an enhanced penalty for targeting the elderly.
Mikhail Gorbachev George Williams, 25, of Broward County, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and running an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Fabian Winston Parkinson, 33, of Miami-Dade County, has been charged with mail fraud.
Ethridge, Williams and Parkinson, as reported in the indictments, would call elderly victims in the U.S. and tell them that they had won a lottery or sweepstakes. The three men would allegedly tell the victims they first had to pay taxes, duties or fees to receive their winnings.
The charges stemmed from an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
“These arrests show that HSI is committed to stopping individuals who prey on our senior citizens,” Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami Alysa Erichs said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our international partners and other law enforcement agencies to put an end to these criminal organizations.”
The victims said they would receive mail or calls from the trio, who worked out of Jamaica, asking them to send money via wire transfers, cash, checks and/or money orders though the U.S. mail and prepaid debit cards.
Authorities said several elderly victims were scammed out of thousands of dollars to cover the bogus fees, for winnings they would never see.
“We will not allow South Florida to be a pipeline for these money couriers who are the lifeblood of these fraudulent schemes that prey on the elderly and vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer. “We are committed to cutting off the money flow by dismantling these fraudulent lottery cells and prosecuting all of those involved, both here and abroad.”
These Jamaican-based sweepstakes scams are nothing new. In March 2009, HSI and the Jamaican Constabulary Force partnered to form Project JOLT to combat the increase of Jamaican-based telemarketing fraud. The swindlers would use several different schemes such as phony inheritances, disaster relief scams, multimillion dollar sweepstakes and more that targeted citizens stateside.
f$%k ah u!!!
met the girl is Marsha spotlight best friend. so Marsha u better beware I dont wish jail on no one but targeting elders is like targeting kids shanice u only 24 n look how u waste u life. Marsha hope you husband rayon put down u bail money because shanice can’t take that pressure alone.
Hope for the best for her., Oprah fuk dem up…
they need to learn a life lesson
A long time feds a watch dem feds no go in pan ppl so until dem have months of facts.fukah u lol ,uno give to much trouble a foreign time fi uno go uno rasss yard,a marsha she did a scam fi help mine n pay marsha rent n help take care of marsha and ar many men lol.because dollar nar show pan shanikea she look bad n stay bad like She no have house,car,land,money,chick nor child she a scam fi man now she get catch hope d man can help her,A regular she eat marsha and kim pussy so she will fit in ina d jail system well,she violate ar 5 yr probation so she get fuk,uno fi stop fuk wid ppl and remember there is a god.me no have no mercy pan nobody wa mess wid elderly ppl….
Suh gerl… smile fi di cyamra nuh….cho
Oh wat tangled web these eediots weave. Smile fi di camerah indeed..set a wicked leeches.
Them days are numbered…
Unuh can gwaan comment member yes Shanice CNT take d pressure so south Florida b ready when she start rat pan d whola unuh who a do scamming especially u Oprah wid u false check n u money pak u first a get rat out miss Maynard right round a San remo they coming be ready we will c who have d last laugh.
marsha good man member she covered unda the haitian obeah oman powers enuh the same woman she go n tie rayon….god go with uno….I dont think is oprah caw oprah a face jail time too withall the court cases she have n child abuse charge. this bag of hyping in ppl dance while stealing innocent ppl money god no like ugly….shanice probation officer was in on it because a the office marshalls pick her up….let the snitching begins because conspiracy a no one nice charge oooooo
Dem say oparh have a 30 thousand dolla lawyer pan fi ar 2 case so d judge no ge ar no jail time at least she use d money wa she and rayon get from d check wisely Cause d ppl dem say a newyork n philly oprah n rayon a come from pan vacation so marsha send shanice go scam fi get back d man and me fren tiad beg rayon fi baby milk but im find money fi bail out oprah,marsha tek five grand and do d breast and now cannot even help her best friend shanike wa she no ramp fi style,but d worst charge is what shanice do u dont play wid elderly ppl its not a good look,marsha covered by the blood of d obeah man and satan so she is very fine,is a big problem this shanice get ina mi sorry fi ar thou cause home land security n us marshalls is a great case n fl ppl say dem av ar voice since last december on recording a scam out the poor elderly ppl Dem bin a watch ar for months now n ppl get busted with it from miami n she still continue damn fool,lock ar up n throw weh d keys…no mercy…
A when dem ago learn.lock up dem rass…..dem give decent Jamaicans too much bad name n too theif……good evening metty n folks
Anyways this post is not even about all these other folks u ppl are speaking.its about the wickedness these three ppl do to elderly folks especially d female how can u have kids and as a woman of nature hurt older ppl its very disturbing but judging from her mug shot she looks like a very disturbed individual u guys are joking about it but from an adult point of view she is facing serious penalties and judging from the news report its a very big organisation that has been ungoing for some months now,they had to have had solid evidence for a long while to get homeland security involved,this foolishness need to stop i pray for her young life n that god forgive her heartless evil soul.
Marsha is ok cause she covered by the obeah owman n oparh have a 30 thousand dala lawyer wa rayon get for her from d check both a them did so she get off a d 4yr jail sentence scott free,but mi sorry fi u girl u ago suffer d consequences of scamming old ppl its not a good look ooooo,rayon need fi take care a mi fren baby n stop mine owman cause a newyork n philly im n oparh go this year n den say a im pay marsha renT n phone bill fi ar man dem but poor girl she in jail wid no help but god but thats what u get for messing with the elderly.Uno give to much trouble so ppl no business bote uno.
Mikhail Gorbachev? A wah di fck some ppl a name dem pickney?
Dese frigging laxy fck faces inna dem youth and health and strength but siddung a rob ppl and destroy dem credit. 24,25,33 and no school eena, no wuck a do git up everyday a leech offa ppl.
Sick a dem and uselessness and a paint di country’s name in a negative light.
Dem nah get nuh pity from me cah mi hab zero tolerance fi all scammers :marah But mi still waan knoe why di miss lady uppa top suh serus. Yuh nuh like pitchos dawling :ngakak
Yawdy, dem ungle smile fe dancehall pictures when it come on to showing off wid people credit card and ruining people good good name and hard earned livelihood; it’s then and only then dem love smile…..nose fava fe raging bull…ole hog shit!..
from what i see on google, this child here love jail house…
D words that come from u ppl mouth lmaooo