Sereika Savariau, Debt Relief Scam, District of Columbia 2021

A Jamaican woman has been charged with running a debt relief scam that tricked U.S. victims into paying fees and disclosing personal identifying information.

Sereika Savariau, also known as Sereika Savariau-Goodison, 36, of Jamaica, appeared in U.S. federal court in Washington D.C. today and was arraigned on an eight-count indictment.

The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2018, Savariau conspired with others to profit from fees paid by victims of fraudulent debt relief companies. The indictment alleges that conspirators created and operated fraudulent businesses and websites that marketed and sold fraudulent debt relief services to members of the public.

Conspirators fraudulently misrepresented that members of the public could apply for and obtain thousands of dollars’ worth of debt relief on their outstanding, unpaid bills in the form of grants, all in exchange for payment of a service processing fee. Conspirators also claimed that the purported debt relief was funded and administered by the U.S. government.

Through their false representations, Savariau and her co-conspirators are alleged to have induced or attempted to induce victims throughout the United States to pay over a million dollars’ worth of service processing fees to Savariau and her co-conspirators via Western Union, Money Gram, PayPal and other payment mechanisms.

Savariau arrived in the D.C. metropolitan area on Thursday after being extradited from Jamaica. At today’s initial appearance, the Honorable Zia M. Faruqui ordered that she be held without bond pending her next hearing, which is scheduled for September 20.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Inspector General, the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Savariau.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

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