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 Americas & Beyond | April 2008 
Mexico Refuses to Hand Over Con Man's Millions
 Charles Rusnell - Edmonton Journal
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| | Alyn Waage | | |
Edmonton - The Mexican government has refused repeated requests from federal American justice officials to hand over millions of dollars worth of assets fraudulently obtained by Edmonton con man Alyn Waage, a U.S. district attorney says.
The assets include Waage's former Puerto Vallarta mansion, another house worth at least $800,000, at least six waterfront condos valued at more than $250,000 each, a 100-foot yacht and hundreds of thousands of dollars deposited in Mexican banks. The mansion was recently listed for sale for $3.5 million by its Mexican owner - Waage's former lawyer, Marco Antonio del Toro.
Supporters of Brenda Martin, the Canadian woman imprisoned without trial for more than two years, say this raises yet more troubling questions about the unequal and unfair treatment Martin has received from the Mexican justice system.
Martin has been imprisoned since Feb. 17, 2006, charged with knowingly accepting illicit funds of $26,000. She said the money was severance pay from Waage, who employed her as a chef.
"Why has the lawyer not been charged with accepting illicit funds," Martin's childhood friend, Deb Tieleman, asked today. "She spends more than two years in prison for supposedly getting $26,000 from a crime but this man is not even charged when we know from the Americans that the mansion was bought with proceeds of crime? How do the Mexicans explain that?"
United States District Attorney John K. Vincent prosecuted Waage and several accomplices in Sacramento, Calif. in 2003 for what is believed to be the largest Internet-based fraud in history. Waage bilked about $60 million from 15,000 investors in 59 countries.
Both Vincent, and Tom Osbourne, the FBI agent who investigated the case, told The Journal they had no interest in Brenda Martin or another of Waage's employees, American Rebecca Roth, both of whom were arrested by Mexican authorities five years after Waage.
"These prosecutions were not filed at our behest," Vincent said.
American court documents show the Americans obtained a temporary forfeiture order for the assets, including the mansion, on April 27, 2004. A final order was issued by the court in October 2005. It was uncontested by Waage and the Mexican government.
By international law, the Mexican government is supposed to honour the forfeiture order. But for 18 months, the Mexicans have refused.
"Despite the fact that the Mexican government was furnished with this order in 2006, these items have not yet been forfeited," Vincent said in an e-mail. "We have talked to Mexican officials about this repeatedly, but we cannot force prosecuting authorities in Mexico, much less the Mexican courts, to ensure that this order is executed."
Vincent could not explain why Waage's lawyer owns an asset that was clearly obtained through crime committed by Waage.
"Why Marco (Antonio) del Toro may still be occupying Casa Cristina (Waage's mansion) is a question you may wish to pose to Mexican authorities," Vincent said.
Del Toro's secretary said he would not be available until Thursday. The Mexican embassy in Ottawa did not respond to an interview request today.
As The Journal reported two weeks ago, del Toro, a lawyer in Guadalajara, recently listed Waage's former 15,000 sq. foot cliff-side mansion for $3.5 million. Del Toro is the lawyer who negotiated bail of $2.2 million for Waage in 2001, which allowed the Canadian con man to immediately flee to Costa Rica where he was later arrested by American authorities. When a Journal reporter gained access to the mansion in 2003, it was valued at $2.2 million. Waage has publicly stated the $2.2 million he paid to his lawyer was used to bribe justice officials in Mexico to secure his release from a Guadalajara prison.
Liberal consular services critic Dan McTeague said this latest revelation raises further questions about Martin's treatment under international law.
"What does this say about the chances of Brenda Martin getting due process? How can anyone claim she is being treated fairly and equally?" McTeague said. "Given this revelation, the prime minister needs to intervene immediately."
Vincent calls his prosecution of Waage a success although he acknowledges he has only recovered a few million dollars from Waage's scam. The money is to be distributed to Waage's victims, including about 100 Canadian investors.
crusnell(at)thejournal.canwest.com |
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