Fraud occurs so frequently it becomes almost mundane in its commonalities. The fraudster seizes the fraudulent opportunity. More often than not, the fraudster gets caught. Fraudster rationalizes the crime in court. Then the fraudster serves prison time. The case of Veon Venita Goulbourne should have been just like all the rest. Until Goulbourne had her day in court. And then it wasn’t!
In April of 2022, at the Cyril E. King Airport in Saint Thomas, Goulbourne displayed a Florida driver’s license with a name she used as an alias. Truth was she was born Jamaica and had no business with a Florida driver’s license under a stolen identity. But this is just the beginning. But upon further investigation, it was discovered that this was not Goulbourne’s first offense of illegal entry. In 1999, Goulbourne was previously arrested while illegally living in New Jersey for food stamp fraud. She served a one-year prison sentence and was deported to Jamaica. But she didn’t stay. Shortly after, she reentered the continental United States she lived for 13 years.
On April 17, 2023, Goulbourne pleaded guilty to making false statements to a U.S. agency. The court sentenced Molloy sentenced Goulbourne to the time already served in detention and ordered her to pay the fines and fees. And back to Jamacia she goes? No. Goulbourne asked that she be allowed to return to the U.S. mainland. And the judge said, “heck no”? No The judge wrote an authorization letter to the federal probation office, granting the Goulbourne ten days to make the trip the U.S. mainland. After that, she must return to St. Thomas to meet the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to discuss deportation.
Shout out to the authorities at the Cyril E. King Airport for catching this fraud. Don’t expect to see her in ten days though.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “An Unexpected Outcome To An Immigration Hearing In District Court” published by the Saint Thomas Source on September 10, 2023
A Jamaican national who was caught lying by Customs about her immigration status won a surprising outcome at her sentencing hearing held Friday in District Court. The judge hearing the case granted a request by the defendant to return to the U.S. mainland.
Defendant Veron Venita Goulbourne pleaded guilty to making false statements to a U.S. agency on April 17, close to one year after she was arrested at Cyril E. King Airport. In the charging document, investigators said Goulbourne displayed a Florida driver’s license with a name she used as an alias.
