NewsWhore
05-29-2006, 03:10 PM
Over 250 men and women showed up at Las Americas International Airport to go to work in Spain. They had been tricked into paying between EUR3,000 and EUR3,500, according to early estimates, in order to obtain the necessary documents and plane fare. While many were detained for questioning, most were sent home, much poorer and maybe a little wiser.
The police began investigations immediately. Those questioned, mainly women, said that they had been told to be at the airport at 3:00pm for a 5:00 o'clock flight to Paris. When the trip organizers failed to show up, the would-be travelers started to get worried and nearly started a mini-riot. The police knew at once that a scam was behind the problem. According to reports from the scene, the women said that they were taken from the sports pavilion in San Cristobal in three buses, supposedly bound for the international airport at Punta Cana, but began to worry when they were left off at Las Americas instead. Most of the money had been placed in small boxes and was supposed to be returned to them upon arrival in Spain. However, as in most bunko operations, the boxes had been switched and the boxes carried by the passengers were empty.
In Sunday's Hoy, the whole swindle was explained. The number of people who were cheated by this scam amounted to two hundred and sixty. There were 150 women and 100 men who paid a total of RD$25.5 million to the gang of thieves. An employee of the San Cristobal prosecutor's office was arrested in relation to the case. Farconelis de los Angeles Rivera Santana was arrested as the chief organizer of the trip that never happened. Each of the victims paid EUR2,750, plus expenses for the emission of a passport, birth certificate, Good Conduct letter, and photographs. Each person gave Rivera Santana RD$700.00 in order to obtain a medical certificate of good health, "under the table." Also under arrest are Dilda Pelletier de Leon, Pamela Martinez Rivera and Ricardo Reyes Rosario. Two more men are wanted in connection with the case. The swindle took place when each of the travelers placed RD$98,000 in a case that was then sealed and with instructions not to open the case until they reached Barajas airport in Madrid. Once in Madrid, they were to give the case to the person who was supposed to meet them there. As the bus was about to leave for the airport the people were asked to hand over the cases containing the money in order "to show the money to an official from the Spanish embassy. The cases were then returned to the unwitting passengers. Today's Hoy reports that two of the women have been sent to jail to await trial, and perhaps save their lives, as a lynch mob tried to attack them to get their money back. The women, Farcolelis de los Angeles Rivera Santana and Dilda Pelletier de Leon were sent to Najayo Prison for one year of preventive custody.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
The police began investigations immediately. Those questioned, mainly women, said that they had been told to be at the airport at 3:00pm for a 5:00 o'clock flight to Paris. When the trip organizers failed to show up, the would-be travelers started to get worried and nearly started a mini-riot. The police knew at once that a scam was behind the problem. According to reports from the scene, the women said that they were taken from the sports pavilion in San Cristobal in three buses, supposedly bound for the international airport at Punta Cana, but began to worry when they were left off at Las Americas instead. Most of the money had been placed in small boxes and was supposed to be returned to them upon arrival in Spain. However, as in most bunko operations, the boxes had been switched and the boxes carried by the passengers were empty.
In Sunday's Hoy, the whole swindle was explained. The number of people who were cheated by this scam amounted to two hundred and sixty. There were 150 women and 100 men who paid a total of RD$25.5 million to the gang of thieves. An employee of the San Cristobal prosecutor's office was arrested in relation to the case. Farconelis de los Angeles Rivera Santana was arrested as the chief organizer of the trip that never happened. Each of the victims paid EUR2,750, plus expenses for the emission of a passport, birth certificate, Good Conduct letter, and photographs. Each person gave Rivera Santana RD$700.00 in order to obtain a medical certificate of good health, "under the table." Also under arrest are Dilda Pelletier de Leon, Pamela Martinez Rivera and Ricardo Reyes Rosario. Two more men are wanted in connection with the case. The swindle took place when each of the travelers placed RD$98,000 in a case that was then sealed and with instructions not to open the case until they reached Barajas airport in Madrid. Once in Madrid, they were to give the case to the person who was supposed to meet them there. As the bus was about to leave for the airport the people were asked to hand over the cases containing the money in order "to show the money to an official from the Spanish embassy. The cases were then returned to the unwitting passengers. Today's Hoy reports that two of the women have been sent to jail to await trial, and perhaps save their lives, as a lynch mob tried to attack them to get their money back. The women, Farcolelis de los Angeles Rivera Santana and Dilda Pelletier de Leon were sent to Najayo Prison for one year of preventive custody.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)