Canadian Man Charged in Lottery Scam

Surrey, British Columbia - A Canadian man wanted in connection with his involvement in a fraudulent lottery scheme which victimized U.S. residents, was arrested today in Surrey, British Columbia, announced Pete Brust, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, and Gord McRae, Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commercial Crime Section. The announcement was made on behalf of the RCMP Project Emptor Task Force - located in Canada - which investigates cross-border lottery scams. Odowa Roland Okuomose, 24, of Surrey, was arrested this morning at this residence by officers with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The arrest was made pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant based on a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, and occurred without incident. The provisional arrest warrant was granted through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) obtained in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs. In addition, Okuomoses residence and business were searched pursuant to a request facilitated by the MLAT. Okuomose, who conducted business since July 2006 as Cash Corner Services in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, was charged on October 5, 2007, in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with mail and wire fraud. According to the complaint, the scheme was carried out by mailing letters advising victims they were lottery winners. The letters instructed victims that, in order to receive their lottery winnings, a fee was required . The complaint alleges that counterfeit checks were also enclosed with each letter which victims were instructed to use to help pay the required fees. Contact numbers listed on the correspondence would connect victims to telemarketers who confirmed that the victim had won the money, but that a fee was required in order to successfully retrieve the funds. Some victims did not receive a letter but only telephone calls from telemarketers who convinced them to send money to the lottery companies, according to the complaint. Victims were asked to send fees ranging from approximately a few thousand dollars to $24,000. After sending the money, victims attempted to deposit their checks and learned that the checks were worthless. No victims interviewed to date have received any money promised to them. Okuomose is scheduled to be in court today in Vancouver for an extradition hearing. A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. This arrest is the result of a joint investigation by the RCMP Project Emptor Telemarketing Task Force in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The task force includes members from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commercial Crime Section, the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the United States Attorneys Office, which is prosecuting the case against Okuomose. Additional Canadian members of the task force include the British Columbia Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority and the Canadian Competition Bureau. PREVENTION TIPS TO AVOID LOTTERY AND CROSS-BORDER FRAUD VICTIMIZATION In recent years, the RCMP Project Emptor task force has successfully investigated advance-fee and cross border fraud matters, resulting in over forty indictments, over thirty arrests and twenty convictions, on charges ranging from wire fraud, mail fraud, mailing materials related to lotteries and telemarketing fraud against the elderly. The Project Emptor Task Force recommends the following tips to citizens who may be targeted for cross-border fraud or advance-fee fraud solicitations. 1. Be suspicious of any offer that sounds too good to be true. 2. Fraudulent telemarketers may misrepresent themselves as government officials, law enforcement officers, banking representatives and attorneys, in order to convince a potential victim to send money. In addition, they may also attempt to send documents falsely representing their company or governmental agency and establish fraudulent websites. 3. If you have legitimately won a lottery or sweepstakes prize, you will never have to pay money in advance of receiving your winnings. 4. Hang up on anyone who solicits your money in advance of awarding a prize. 5. Never provide personal information over the telephone including your date of birth, social security account number, credit card or bank account information. 6. Do not attempt to deposit checks sent by companies whose representatives claim the check is being sent to pay fees or taxes on lottery winnings. These checks may appear to be legitimate but they are not. Some of the checks may even be drawn on legitimate accounts and may include actual routing numbers so that they appear to be authentic even when presented for deposit at a bank. 7. Fraudulent telemarketers will apply high pressure sales techniques by falsely representing that the fees are required immediately in order to obtain the winnings. 8. Report cross-border or advance-fee scams over the Internet or over the phone to the following: a. FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center: www.ic3.gov b. Phonebusters: (888) 495-8501 c. Federal Trade Commission: (877) 382-4357 9. Visit the following websites for more information and helpful tips: www.fbi.gov www.ftc.gov/crossborder