Posted on: Tuesday, June 1, 2004

Couple accused of fraud arrested in Philippines

Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines — An American couple wanted in Hawai'i for allegedly defrauding 70 people of more than $8 million has been arrested in the southern Philippines, immigration officials said yesterday.

Immigration Associate Commissioner Arthel Coronogan said John Leo Cerizo and his wife, Janeth Rey Cerizo, were arrested in southern Davao city on May 27 following a request from the U.S. Embassy and FBI.

The Cerizos are U.S. citizens of Filipino origin. They've been indicted in Hawaii on multiple counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud, Coronongan said in a statement.

He said the couple will be deported within a week to Guam en route to Hawai'i.

The Cerizos were charged with duping 70 investors, mostly elderly Filipino Americans on Maui, into investing their lifetime savings in offshore companies that existed only as bank accounts with the Cerizos as signatories.

Investigators said the Cerizos continued with their scheme while hiding in the Philippines since November 2002, defrauding several Filipinos of up to $170,000.

The Filipino victims were lured into investing money after being told by the couple that they found the fabled buried treasures of Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, who plundered various Southeast Asian countries during World War II, prosecutors said.