Ex-CRM official under FBI investigation again on same Internet fraud

Benny K. Pangelinan, a former Coastal Resources Management official who had already served a three-year and one month prison sentence for wire fraud, is under investigation again by the FBI for allegedly committing the same offenses—defrauding family members and friends with Internet fraud schemes.

The U.S. Probation Office on Friday asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to issue summons for Pangelinan to appear at a hearing and explain why his term of supervised release should not be revoked for violating his probation conditions.

U.S. Probation Officer Gregory F. Arriola said Pangelinan borrowed a total of $21,450 from a couple, and also received over $11,000 from a family member.

Arriola said Pangelinan got $21,450 from the couple after he promised them to double the payback once he received the $9.9 million from a “Korean woman” who had $150 million to use for projects on Saipan.

Arriola said Pangelinan was able to receive $11,000 from a family member, whom he convinced that he had large sums of money being sent to Saipan from different sources.

The probation officer said after an interview with one of those who gave money to Pangelinan, FBI special agent Joe Auther stated that Pangelinan’s current conduct was similar to what he was doing when he was initially indicted with wire fraud.

Arriola said special agent Auther stated that it was almost as if Pangelinan “went back in time” because of the similarities.

Auther was the same agent in charge of investigating Pangelinan’s previous wire fraud case.

In January 2007, a federal jury found Pangelinan guilty on all five wire fraud charges. The wire fraud charges stemmed from his activities to defraud potential investors and his involvement with various Internet fraud schemes.

In April 2007, the court sentenced the defendant to three years and one month in prison. After serving the jail term, he was placed on three years of supervised release.

The court ordered Pangelinan to pay a total of $129,250 in restitution to five victims.

In the U.S. Probation Office’s petition to revoke Pangelinan’s probation, Arriola said that on March 18, 2011, a probation officer received a call from a concerned citizen that Pangelinan had been “scamming” a family member of his money.

Arriola said probation officer Maggie Wonenberg was able to confirm the information after talking with the daughter and son of the person, who gave money to Pangelinan.

The daughter and other siblings tried to convince their father that he was getting scammed, but their conversations eventually led to arguments.

Arriola said that, on March 25, 2011, Wonenberg confronted Pangelinan about the information, but he denied the allegations.

On April 15, 2011, the family member consented to an interview with probation officers Arriola and Wonenberg.

The family member stated that Pangelinan made claims of having large sums of money coming from banks in New York, Texas, California, and other foreign locations.

Pangelinan asked financial assistance from the family member to bring the money to Saipan, and in return would pay him $150,000 once the money arrived.

Arriola said the family member later disclosed that Pangelinan had several stories about where the large amount of money was coming from: Ambassador in New York, a priest in Spain, a woman by the name of Carole Millar in Australia.

The family member related that each time the money was on its way to Saipan, an event would take place and delay its arrival.

Arriola said the family member stated that each delay required some sort of fee to have the money continue on its journey to its final destination.

The family member admitted he had given Pangelinan a little over $11,000 to assist him in bringing the money to Saipan.

Arriola said during an office visit on May 6, 2011, Pangelinan eventually admitted he had been borrowing money from the family member as well as from a couple.

Pangelinan said a certain Dr. Donald Anthony was assisting him to ship the “parcel” to Saipan and that the “item” was currently in Japan because Customs would not release it due to incomplete documentation.

Arriola said Pangelinan also admitted to keeping in contact with a certain Carol J. Millar, whom he identified as his girlfriend but met her only through an account that he setup on a dating website.

Pangelinan said Millar worked for the payout section of Western Union and was on her way to Saipan to deliver an ATM card that he won.

Pangelinan said his girlfriend Millar never made it to Saipan because she was arrested by Korean Customs.

Arriola said he told Pangelinan he was being manipulated by scammers, but he maintained they were not scams and that he was about to receive his millions.

Pangelinan stated he had paperwork from the FBI which gave him clearance to continue with his activity.

Arriola said on that same day, Pangelinan returned to the U.S. Probation Office where he submitted paperwork which he believed to be from the FBI and other documents.

After reviewing the documents, Arriola said he advised Pangelinan that they were not legitimate and instructed him to stop accessing the Internet and cease further activity with his online contacts.

Arriola said on June 1, 2011 the man who gave Pangelinan $21,450 consented to an interview with him.

Arriola said the man stated that Pangelinan promised him to double his money once he received the $9.9 million from a Korean investor. (Ferdie de la Torre)