Montego Bay Woman Sentenced in US for Debt Relief Scam

A Jamaican woman, 37-year-old Sereika Savariau, of Montego Bay, has been sentenced to three years in a US prison for orchestrating a fraudulent debt relief scheme targeting financially distressed Americans. Savariau, also known as Sereika Savariau-Goodison, was sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution.

US District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta handed down the sentence and also ordered Savariau to pay restitution to her victims, who were tricked into paying fraudulent processing fees and disclosing sensitive personal information.

Savariau’s guilty plea, submitted on April 16, 2024, revealed that between June 2016 and September 2018, she and her co-conspirators created a series of fake debt relief companies. They lured vulnerable Americans with promises of government-funded aid, falsely claiming that consumers could receive up to $60,000 in assistance to pay off their debts.

The scam, which preyed on over 50 individuals, encouraged victims to pay exorbitant “processing fees” of up to 14% of the debt relief they believed they were entitled to. Many victims, desperate to escape their financial burdens, were defrauded multiple times and sent money via Western Union.

Authorities say Savariau and her co-conspirators sought to defraud Americans out of more than $550,000 through false representations. They also misused the victims’ personal information for other illegal activities, including opening PayPal accounts, obtaining pre-paid credit cards, and registering fake websites under victims’ names.

The US Attorney’s Office condemned the scheme, saying, “Victims were eager to provide their personal and financial information, believing they would receive government-backed debt relief, only to be further exploited.”

Savariau’s sentencing marks the conclusion of a multi-year investigation into the fraudulent operation, which exploited Americans desperate for financial help.