A Jamaican police constable is among eight people being extradited to the United States to answer charges in connection with a lottery scam originating in the Caribbean island nation that has defrauded 10 elderly Americans out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The officer, Jason Jahalal, and the others have each been indicted on one count of conspiracy and attempting to commit wire fraud, 48 counts of wire fraud, 15 counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering in the state of North Dakota.
Lavrick Willocks, the man police say was the ringleader of the scheme, was extradited to the U.S. last year to face similar charges.
Experts, however, say these moves barely scratch the surface of an island-wide lottery crimes network worth an estimated $1 billion a year and involving at least 30,000 perpetrators.
Clare Hochhalter, a North Dakota assistant U.S. attorney, said the fight against the scams is just beginning.
“There’s much more to do. More offences need to be aggressively prosecuted and offenders need to be held accountable, both in Jamaica and in the U.S.”
Scammers find their victims by obtaining contact details from hotels or call centers or online. Like Nigeria’s 419 scammers, they promise a large payout?often a lottery prize?but then tell the victim a fee is needed to process the cash. Victims are told to wire the money to Jamaica or in some cases send it by mail.
Some fraudsters are amassing individual earnings of upwards of $100,000 a week, a trove that is also fueling a dramatic rise in violent crime on the island. Authorities say up to 50 percent of murders in western Jamaica are traceable to clashes over lottery crime proceeds.
“We have had so much violence driven by this, although I don’t know if people connect the dots,” said Peter Bunting, a federal lawmaker and former minister of National Security.
