Roth bought a store in Puerto Vallarta and began selling ceramics. Sometime in December 2000, Roth met Allyn Waage. Waage persuaded Roth she ought to work for him, saying her boutique was a losing proposition.
Roth took the job and in January 2001 reported to work at Waage's office in the basement of his house, according to Mexican authorities. The $2.2 million home in Puerto Vallarta Mexico had a vanishing-edge pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean, floor-to-ceiling windows, three stories, five bedrooms and a spiraling staircase with a wrought-iron handrail and called Tri-West Investment Club.
Roth describes her duties as mundane. She says she did everything from arranging travel accommodations for Waage's other employees to making dinner reservations to paying bills.
Alyn Richard Waage, is said to have defrauded 13,000 people of at least $53 million in a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme operates much like a pyramid scheme, except it's run by a central individual or organization rather than a hierarchy of investors responsible for recruiting new ones.
In April 2001, Waage was arrested stepping off a Learjet in Puerto Vallarta. He was carrying $4.5 million in cash. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2002 and pleaded guilty in 2003. In 2005, he was sentenced to 10 years in a North Carolina federal prison on charges of mail fraud and money laundering.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Waage was guilty of running one of the largest Internet-based Ponzi schemes in U.S. history. Investors, who were solicited over the Internet, thought Waage was investing their money in bank securities that would more than double their money each year, when in reality, he was using their funds to pay earlier investors and line his own pockets.
Nearly one year after Allyn Waage was sentenced, Roth—was arrested Feb. 13, 2006. After charging her with using illicitly obtained funds and participating in organized crime, Mexican authorities tossed her in jail at the Puente Grande women's penitentiary, five hours east of Puerto Vallarta.
Mexican authorities had been holding her for more than a year with evidence that she received a $50,000 deposit from Waage's bank account. Roth says she used that money to pay Waage's bills and that the rest of the money she received from him was her salary.
She has been charged with operaciones con recursos de procedencia ilicita and violacion a la ley federal contra la delincuencia organizada—operating with illicitly obtained money and violating federal law against organized crime—in connection with an international Ponzi scheme.
The Mexican judicial process differs from the U.S. system in myriad ways. Of all those differences, though, the most significant one is that Roth must prove her innocence without the right to a trial by a jury of her peers.
But Roth's case has not yet reached the stage where a judge reviews the evidence, due to the case's complexity and the vagaries of Mexico's bureaucracy.
Authorities in Mexico are waiting for a federal judge in the United States to interrogate Waage in North Carolina. The purpose was to get an official statement from Waage declaring that Roth was not part of his inner circle, that she did not know the origin of his money and that she used the money he gave her for legal purposes.
The United States Government has no higher responsibility than to serve and protect its citizens, including those who reside or are temporarily abroad. The Citizens Consular Services (CCS) Unit provides prompt, courteous, and efficient services to United States Citizens and other clients, consistent with U.S. laws and regulations.
The Puente Grande women's penitentiary is a long way from Lake Oswego, Oregon. Help bring her home. Sign this petition to tell the U.S. Federal Courts and other Government representatives to have Rebecca Roth extradited back to the U.S. to stand charges for Federal Ponzi schemes. Sign this petition to tell the U.S. Government that Roth needs to be held accountable for charges of mail fraud and money laundering immediately.
The CCS Unit in Mexico City provides a wide range of services to American citizens traveling or residing in Mexico City, including applications for passports, registration of citizens living in or traveling in Mexico, information on voter’s registration, notarial services for documents to be used in the United States and certain emergency services relating to deaths, arrests and temporary destitution. U.S. citizens in Mexico are, of course, subject to Mexican laws and procedures.
Tell US Ambassador to Mexico Antonio O. Garza to call on the Mexican government to take swift and decisive action to extradite Rebecca Roth to stand charges in the U.S.
Please ask the authorities to notify the Embassy immediately. The Embassy can work to help protect the person and ensure fair treatment. The Embassy will also visit the prisoner; provide information about the local legal process, as well as a list of local attorneys; and notify family and friends.
More information is available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/law/arrest.html and at http://travel.state.gov/travel/transfer.html.
Tell US Ambassadors to make Mexico probe these incidences and other related inquiries in a fair and diplomatic manner. General Information - US Embassy Mexico City
U.S. citizens in Mexico or traveling to Mexico who have questions or concerns about services available from the Embassy may contact the American Citizen Services section.
For after-hour emergencies, please call the Embassy number and ask the switchboard operator to connect you to the duty officer. Also, among the links on the left you will find information for most emergency situations.
U.S. citizens in other areas of Mexico should seek the assistance of the U.S. Consulates or Consular agencies located throughout the country. Click on the following to find a directory of Consulates and Consular Agencies.
Tell the Red Cross in Mexico to probe Rebecca Roths’ health concerns.
United States - Washington DC Embassy of Mexico in the United States of America. Has information about the embassy's activities, services, staff personal, a press room and information.
Contáctenos Embajada de México
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USA Telephone: 202 728 1600
Tell representatives of the U.S. and Mexico that you have political issues or topic related to US foreign policy. Sending your opinions to the U.S. Department of State.
You may send a message to the Secretary of State, or state an opinion regarding foreign policy. By using Contact-Us to access the Bureau of Public Affairs website, you can also learn about other points of contact within the Department.
Help general questions about Federal Government programs be directed to the National Contact Center at 1.800.FED.INFO or 1.800.333.4636.
Help include Rebecca Roth’s story in ‘America’s story’
Demand U.S. representatives to demonstrate that deposits Waages gave Rebecca is money that Rebecca used legally.
Testimonies
- Harrison went on to write a novel, The Wanted and the Unwanted, about his experience working for Tri-West, and the fictionalized account includes a quick-witted character—named Roxanne with a lap dog named Yoda—based on Roth.
- Alyn Waage testified to a U.S. judge she was not involved. The U.S. did not extradite or charge her with any crime.
- Others who ran the scheme deny she knew anything Illegal was going on.
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