Accused scammer to be extradited
Published:Tuesday | September 13, 2022 | 12:11 AM
A St James businessman alleged to be the mastermind behind a local lottery scamming group is to be extradited to the United States after he opted not to challenge the request.
Anthony Stewart, 38, of Bogue Village, waived his right to an extradition hearing on Monday when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court with his lawyer Richard Lynch.
Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Montague signed his warrant of committal for his extradition and notified Stewart that he would remain in custody until arrangements are made for him to be taken to the US.
Stewart is wanted in the North Carolina on mail and wire fraud charge.
He was first arrested in August 2013 with his spouse, Felicia Lindo, by members of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force in relation to lottery scamming.
Police had reportedly seized papers containing overseas contact information and US$1,040 and J$10,000 during a search of the premises. But both were freed of the charges.
Lindo, who is both Jamaican and American, was, however, arrested again in September 2016 in the US. She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the western District of North Carolina.
The dual citizen, who had admitted to being part of Jamaican lottery fraud conspiracy that targeted victims in the US from 2011 to 2012, was in February 2017 sentenced to 24 months in prison and three years' supervised release
She was also ordered to pay $292,900 in restitution.
Lindo, as part of her guilty plea, had confessed to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims before forwarding portions of the amount to Jamaica.
She had further acknowledged that the victims of the scheme were called and informed that they had won money in a sweepstakes or lottery and were instructed to send money for fees or other expenses in order to release their purported lottery winnings.