7 News Belize

Mexican Fraudster In Jail For Drivers’ License
posted (November 9, 2015)
Last week, 7News was the first to report on 47 year-old David Miguel Nanes Schnitzer a fugitive wanted by Interpol and Mexican and US Authorities who was caught on San Pedro. He's believed to be a major player in a multi-billion dollar ponzi scheme with defrauded thousands of investors in Latin America. So tonight, after being on the run, he's at the Belize Central Prison after allegedly being busted with a fake driver's license in San Pedro Town.

So, why is he a big deal internationally right now? Well, an Interpol warrant says that Schnitzer helped convicted financial criminal Allen Stanford to defraud thousands of victims of $7 Billion dollars, the largest fraud scheme in US History.

Investors in this ponzi scheme were focused mainly in Latin America, including Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, and they suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses when Stanford's financial empire collapsed. Stanford is serving 110 years in prison for his conviction of financial crimes.

So, back to Schnitzer, he's believed to have had a major hand in this fraud, and international press reports say that he had been on the run for months. That is until last week when he was picked up by San Pedro police when they allegedly caught him with a fake driver's license.

He was charged with uttering upon a forged document, and he was arraigned last week Friday before the Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith. That conviction would have been final and binding had the Chief Magistrate sentenced him last week Friday, but she deferred it to today. When the case was called up, the Chief Magistrate was ready to hand him the sentence, but by that time, he had retained the services of Liesje Barrow-Chung.

He and his attorney informed the court that they wished to change his plea from "guilty" to "not guilty". Ordinarily, that would have afforded him an opportunity to get bail, but the police prosecutor objected on the premise that Schnitzer is a flight risk.

Chief Magistrate Smith upheld that objection and remanded him until the next court date. It is expected that Interpol and US Marshals, or Mexican Authorities will make an intervention to try to get custody of Schnitzer from the Belizean authorities.

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