By Francine Black, Staff Reporter

A 60-year-old grandmother is among more than a dozen persons who were swindled of thousands of dollars by a man who also made off with their passports and in one case, a birth certificate.

Gloria Brown, the elderly woman, said she and a friend lost $100,000 in the scam, after the man promised them jobs and visas to work in the United States.

What makes it worse for Brown is that her family abroad is filing for her and she will need her passport. She said she did not intend to work in the U.S. but decided to take the chance with the con man, as he said she would get the visa in a matter of weeks and the filing process being done by her family was taking too long.

Detectives at the Fraud Squad have confirmed that they have received reports from persons who were defrauded and have launched an investigation into the matter. The police were unable to put a final amount on the money stolen by the con man.

Information reaching THE STAR indicates that people handed over sums ranging between $20,000 and $100,000 along with their passports to the man. They were told that they would receive a 10-year visa, but could only work for three years on it. They were also promised US$500 pocket money when they arrived in the U.S.

Rigmarole

"A girl get a call from someone in the United States who gave her the number for a man who will take her to [another] man who looks about people to go away," Brown said, explaining how she came to meet the man.

She said the woman went, paid $100,000, gave him her passport and six passport-sized photographs. This woman, she said, then told her and others about the man, who, after discussions, came to see them and collect the money.

That was three months ago, and to date they have not seen or heard from him. "Someone call his phone and got voicemail say this is KingFish and telling them to leave a time that they can call back," she said.

Brown told THE STAR that she is worried about what the man could be doing with her passport. Other persons are worried too including a woman who gave him her child's birth certificate to arrange for the child to travel on her visa while another sent her passport and money to the man from overseas.

Brown says she now regrets her decision to go this route. "He told us, 'yuh ago sweet'. To how him talk is as if you give him yuh money now and yuh get through quick," she said.

Brown said she wanted the story to be made public so others would not be swindled like her and also because she wanted to get back her passport.

Name changed.