Drivers License database used in MoneyGram scam

There are allegations surfacing that a number of persons earlier this year were using the MoneyGram transfer business as an avenue to fraudulently collect monies. Information reaching News Five is that the Belize City Council’s drivers license database was used to obtain personal information on prominent persons, including politicians. Their signatures were forged and money transfers were then made in their name. We contacted Marilyn Williams at the Financial Intelligence Unit today, and while she would not grant us an interview, she confirmed that the investigations were ongoing. The FIU has been visiting persons whose names have been used to carry out the fraud. The scam apparently took place for months before it was busted but the matter has only now become public. MoneyGram was in the news early this year, when the Coye family, who operated a sub-agent of the money transfer service, was charged with money laundering. On January first, Marlene and Michael Coye, along with their daughter Melanie and her boyfriend James Gerou, were all detained after one point five million dollars in cash were found in their home.