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VB,
You were exactly right. It's in today's A.M. Costa Rica:
Former Horseshoe Casino owner
Internet real estate chief snagged in online scam case
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Law officers arrested the president of a Costa Rican real estate Internet marketing operation Friday on a U.S. fraud charge related to other online activities. He is Jaime Ligator, 65, president of World Wide Land Investments which has offices on the third floor of Mall San Pedro. Ligator also is known as a professional poker player who participated in North American tournaments and as the former owner of the Horseshoe Casino, which recently changed hands.
Agents of the International Police Agency (INTERPOL) and the Judicial Investigating Organization said they arrested Ligator at a Mall San Pedro office on a warrant from the U.S. District Court in the Western District of North Carolina.
The charges are electronic fraud and wire fraud, said agents. The case involves some 36 co-defendants, said a statement from INTERPOL. The charges involve alleged participation in an advanced fee lottery scam in which U.S. citizens were contacted by telephone and told that they had won a lottery, they said, but they did not disclose Ligator's alleged role in the operation.
The victims were told they had to send money via Western Union to "Lloyds de Costa Rica," said agents. The amounts were usually in the thousands of dollars, agents said. Naturally no lottery payoff was forthcoming. The information relayed from the United States said that most of the telephone calls were made from San José but that by using voice-over-Internet protocol, those getting the call thought that they originated in Washington, D.C., at the 202 area code.
In multiple raids by law officers here May 17, 2006, three U.S. citizens and two Canadians were arrested as alleged directors of an advanced fee lottery scam. At the same time five persons were detained in California.
As many as 200 bilingual Costa Ricans were believed involved making telephone calls from the city to potential victims in the United States. This group handed out lottery tickets at supermarkets and shopping centers in the United States, so that those being called had had previous contact with the fake lottery, officials said then. No verification could be made over the weekend that this is the group linked to Ligator, and there are several other advance fee scams that have been broken up recently.
Still agents said information from the United States said that in Ligator's case callers told victims that they were associated with the mythical "lottery commission of the United States." This was the same fake agency used by those arrested last year. Ligator's arrest warrant was issued just this March 17, agents said. The former casino owner will be involved in extradition hearings in the Tribunal de Juicio de San José where a lawyer for the United States will present the case for his transportation there. He was identified as a U.S. citizen.
There was no reply to calls placed to World Wide Land Investments Saturday. There also is no contact information on the registration for the two Web sites run by the company: wliofcr.com and costaricalandowners.com. The company says little on its Web sites, and is believed to engage in telephone solicitations of potential purchasers in the United States.
One man who contacted A.M. Costa Rica over the weekend said that he had paid the company $90,000 for some land. He said he had a signed letter from Ligator verifying the company's promise that he would receive a full refund if he were not satisfied with the land. The man said he visited the site but was not happy with the property and sought a refund but so far only got back $50,000.
World Wide Land Investments said it is selling ocean view lots on land on the east coast of the Gulf of Nicoya near the settlement of Colorado. This is north of Puntarenas and south of the location of the friendship bridge, the Puente de Amistad, over the RÃo Tempisque. One Web page is accompanied by a female voice that says the property is just south of the Four Seasons Hotel.
Actually the Four Seasons on the Gulf de Papagayo is about 28 kilometers (some 17 miles) as the crow flies north of the location. The voice also promises a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean, but the ocean cannot be seen from the upper Gulf of Nicoya, although the view of the gulf is picturesque.
The firm says this on its Web site about its inventory:
"World Wide Land Investments has been in business for almost three decades. We pride ourselves on hand selecting land that is Appreciating in Value. The land we have selected in Costa Rica is right in the Path of Costa Rica's Development. We have land available on both the Atlantic or Pacific Coasts. All of our properties have either ocean and mountain views or direct ocean views.
_________________ You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!! 
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