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Brenda Kim Martin is a Canadian citizen from Trenton, Ontario, whose arrest and conviction in Mexico was subject of much publicity in Canada. Martin began living in Mexico in 1998, working in the culinary industry, allegedly without a visa.〔(CBC News In Depth: Mexico )〕 In 2006, she was arrested on fraud charges related to a former employer, Alyn Waage. She remained in custody awaiting disposition of her case for two years. The trial and subsequent decision were pushed forward by intervention of the Canadian government and public.〔(Ottawa pays Brenda Martin's fine to speed up transfer )〕 Throughout the proceedings, she maintained that she was innocent of the charges and was not implicated by the ring leader, Alyn Waage, who is incarcerated for the fraud in the USA. She was found guilty based on evidence suggesting she knowingly accepted illicit funds from her former boss, Alyn Waage, with whom she had a close relationship. She was sentenced to five years in jail without parole and received a fine. After being transferred to Canada, she was granted full parole. ==Arrest== While Martin was employed by Waage, he was running an internet fraud pyramid scheme, the "Tri-West Investment Club", which defrauded 15,000 victims of more than US$60 million.〔(TheSpec.com - BreakingNews - Brenda Martin sentenced to five years )〕 Following a joint investigation by US, Canadian, and Costa Rican police, he was arrested and charged with fraud in 2006.〔Martin verdict coming Tuesday, Mexican judge says. CBC News. URL: (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/18/martin-mexico.html ).〕 After fleeing Mexico while on bail, he was re-arrested in Costa Rica and is now serving a 10-year sentence in the United States.〔 Co-conspirators Keith Nordick and Michael Webb were also convicted of related offences.〔 The PGR (Mexican Federal District Attorney office) believed Martin had participated in the fraud and arrested her in 2006. Martin claims she never realized there was something wrong going on. Waage gave sworn evidence that she was unaware of his illegal activities and stated that the Mexican authorities held her to maintain leverage over him. In his affidavit he did admit that Martin had worked for him for five months but never stated he had given her a year's severance for being fired. He explained the money sent as a return of her fiancé's investment in his scheme, since as a Mexican resident he could not invest. Because Martin faced federal charges considered serious felonies in Mexico, and because she was a foreigner, Mexican law prevented her release on bail. As a result, she remained in custody while awaiting trial. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brenda Martin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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