The story of a transcontinental fraud, a dozen years of deception that ended in prison
Deceptive actions under the guise of fake heirs are revealed. The perpetrators made billions of rupiah from victims across continents.
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Boston
Marianne Smyth (54) travels around the United States while telling stories as the heir to a wealthy Irish family, a close friend of famous film star Jennifer Aniston, and even having paranormal abilities. However, it turns out that it is all just a hoax.
Currently, Smyth is in the Piscataquis County Jail in Dover-Foxcroft Maine, Boston, USA, pending an extradition hearing scheduled for April 17, 2024. The hearing is to decide whether he can be extradited to England regarding a series of frauds he carried out 15 years ago in Northern Ireland.
The middle-aged woman was accused of stealing more than 170,000 US dollars (Rp 2.7 billion) from at least five victims in Northern Ireland during 2008-2010. According to court documents cited by Associated Press on Thursday (28/3/2024), an arrest warrant was issued for Smyth in 2021. She was only found and arrested in February 2024 in Maine, Boston, the State of Massachusetts, USA.
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The case is similar to Anna Sorokin, scammer who goes everywhere posing as a wealthy heiress from Germany. Currently, Sorokin is serving his sentence in New York.
“Smyth was a master of disguise, completely changing her appearance and style to suit each ruse,” said Johnathan Walton, 49, who started a podcast about Smyth called “Queen of The Con” in 1999. 2021.
The scheme was created by Walton to warn others after he was duped out of almost 100,000 US dollars (IDR 1.5 billion). According to Walton, Smyth always appeared luxurious in designer clothes.
However, Smyth also admitted to always needing money for various suspicious reasons, such as frozen bank accounts and paying deposits. To Walton, Smyth claimed to be the heir to a $7 million inheritance (Rp 111 billion) from his wealthy family in Ireland.
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Walton and Smyth once had a close relationship for several years in Los Angeles. Walton bought expensive dinners and luxurious vacations for Smyth.
In this selfie taken in July 2014, Johnathan Walton poses for a photo with Marianne Smyth on a vacation in Palm Springs, California, USA.
However, the true story began to unravel when Walton realized that Smyth had been imprisoned for stealing 200,000 US dollars (IDR 3.173 billion) from a luxury travel agency where he used to work.
Smyth was later jailed for stealing from Walton. ”He has no shame. And he has no conscience," said Walton, who is also a television reality show producer, writer and speaker.
Walton stated that Smyth enjoyed turning his victims into actors in a complex fraud scheme. Smyth's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment regarding the case and Smyth's journey.
Siniar Walton has received tips from dozens of other victims scattered from California to New York. These sources tell various false stories concocted by Smyth to deceive his victims, such as stories about fake charities for Ukraine, envoys of the devil, witches, hockey coaches, cancer patients, and friends of film star Jennifer Aniston.
The victims claim that Smyth often changes his name and appearance. "He targets our vulnerability and obtains all of our information and bank accounts," said Heather Sladinski (50), a fashion designer in Los Angeles who claimed to have been deceived of 20,000 US dollars (Rp 317 million) for fake fortune-telling and life training services.
Sladinski also paid Smyth for breathing exercises, yoga, and strange rituals. "Smyth is a funny, smart, and has credentials and documents to support his claims," he said.
Sladinski started to distance himself from Smyth after Smyth wanted to perform a strange ritual involving a chicken to bring back Sladinski's ex-girlfriend. Smyth then made a threatening phone call. Sladinski admitted to being very scared and had to move houses in order to feel safe.
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After becoming acquainted with Walton, Sladinski filed his own police report against Smyth and testified at Walton's trial.
Johnathan Walton (left), one of Marianne "Mair" Smyth's fraud victims, poses for a photo with Smyth at a Christmas party in downtown Los Angeles, United States, in December 2013.
Tess Cacciatore, the owner of a production company and non-profit organization, met Smyth in 2016 through her business partner. At that time, the business partner hired Smyth as a paranormal. Smyth claimed to be a cancer patient, even sending photos of herself wearing a hospital gown. Not to be missed, she also claimed to be getting a 50 million US dollar inheritance.
Smyth also showed an electronic mail that allegedly came from Aniston. He even invited Cacciatore to the Golden Globe Awards event. However, the invitation was suddenly canceled by Aniston herself.
”She should be an actress. He is very good at what he does,” Cacciatore said.
In Northern Ireland, a government official stated that Smyth was involved in investment fraud. He stole money that he promised to invest and arranged the sale of his victims' homes. However, he ran away with the money and the actions of Smyth's deception. (AP)
