3 Filipinos charged in US over jewelry scam

MANILA, Philippines — Three Filipinos were among the seven individuals charged by the US Department of Justice for fraud and money laundering for allegedly importing trinkets from the Philippines, passing them off as native American-made jewelry and selling them in the US.

On Feb. 26, Mency Remedio, described by the justice department as a factory manager in the Philippines; Orlando Abellanosa and Ariel Adlawan Canedo, both of whom worked as jewelry smiths in the Philippines, were charged with participating in the fraud and money laundering scheme. 

A federal grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona returned a 38-count indictment alleging that Richard Dennis Nisbet, 70, and his daughter Laura Marye Lott, 31, both of Peoria, Arizona, conspired with others to design and manufacture the native American-style jewelry in the Philippines and import these to the US.

Lott allegedly delivered the jewelry to retail stores in Arizona, Texas and other states and collected payments. 

Christian Coxon, 45, of Selma, Texas, was the owner and operator of Turquoise River Trading Co., a jewelry store in San Antonio, Texas that claimed to specialize in native American-made jewelry. 

Waleed Sarrar, 43, of Chandler, Arizona, owned and operated Scottsdale Jewels LLC, a jewelry store in Scottsdale, Arizona that advertized as selling authentic native American-made jewelry. 

According to the indictment, Coxon and Sarrar conspired with Nisbet, Lott and others to pass off imitation jewelry manufactured abroad to the public as authentic native American-made jewelry.  

The conspirators allegedly perpetrated this international fraud and money-laundering scheme for several years in violation of federal laws, including the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.