A Jamaican national has admitted her role in a scam that promised Americans phony debt relief, netting more than half a million dollars in bogus fees, the U.S. Attorney's office announced. Sereika Savariau, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, a crime that could land her behind bars for up to 30 years, as U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves confirmed.

The scam, which unfolded between June 2016 and September 2018, involved a series of fraudulent companies that falsely offered to aid U.S. citizens with government-funded financial support, luring victims into paying sham processing fees and disclosing personal information, Savariau acknowledged in her plea; she has direct ties to the deceptive operations that fooled over 50 individuals into transferring money mostly through Western Union to what they believed were legitimate service charges, according to details released by the Department of Justice.

Further complicating Savariau's legal woes is her defiance of a prior judicial order, which clearly banned her from engaging in activities that would falsely promise to significantly reduce consumer debts—a directive issued by Judge Reggie B. Walton back in September 2015. Despite the earlier court order, Savariau continued her fraudulent practices, resulting in her indictment by a federal grand jury in December 2021 and her extradition from Jamaica to the United States in September of last year.

The elaborate fraud promised unsuspecting Americans hefty sums—up to $60,000 in one instance—for bill payments, while another deceitful claim promised $25,000 in annual debt relief; these predatory falsities preyed upon the vulnerabilities of those struggling with debt, their personal information sometimes repurposed for creating PayPal accounts or applying for credit cards without their knowledge, the investigation found. Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court handled Savariau’s guilty plea and set a sentencing date for September 19, 2024, it was during this time that the heavy deception of the fraudulent websites came to light, one even registered in a victim's name without their consent, the prosecution underscored.

The case probing Savariau's activities involved a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General, the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Justice Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. With the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs playing a key role in her arrest and extradition, trial attorneys Louisa Becker and Ashley Pungello, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman, will be prosecuting the case.