US couple accused of fraud, keeping man in Samoa to steal more money.
A Lehi couple face fraud, money laundering and kidnapping charges in Utah's U.S. District Court accusing them of stealing more than $3.6 million.
A Lehi husband and wife face federal charges accusing them of obtaining millions from fraudulent schemes. One scheme resulted in a kidnapping charge, as well, after they allegedly kept a 26-year-old in Samoa under false pretenses.
Misiona Patane, 57, and Lavinia Patane, 54, each face two counts of bank fraud and three counts of money laundering. Misiona Patane also faces an additional three counts of wire fraud, six counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of kidnapping.
Both were indicted by a grand jury on Dec. 15. The couple is believed to have stolen over $3.6 million, according to a statement from the Utah U.S. Attorney's Office.
In 2011, Misiona Patane became the director of a foundation started by an unnamed former professional athlete that was dedicated to helping people from Samoa or living in Samoa. Lavina Patane became an officer and treasurer of the foundation later that year. During that time, the former athlete served as the president of the foundation.
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From 2012 to 2019, federal investigators allege that Lavina Patane wrote numerous checks and made deposits and withdrawals from bank accounts in the name of the foundation. The former athlete was unaware that Lavina Patane had any involvement with the foundation, and did not give permission to her to manage the foundation's finances, according to court documents. Personal tax returns belonging to the former athlete and another person were sent to bank accounts controlled by the Patanes, which investigators say amounted to roughly $1.25 million.
In a separate scheme, the couple is accused of stealing funds from the trust of a 26-year-old man who suffers from a permanent brain injury sustained in a car crash when he was 20 months old. The man's mother was killed in the crash, while his father also sustained brain injuries in the same crash before the father died in 2008.
From roughly October 2016 to 2018, Misiona Patane allegedly took large amounts of money from the trust — roughly $2.4 million — and deposited the money in bank accounts they controlled, according to charging documents. Investigators allege that Misiona Patane falsified the cost of services for the disabled man to obtain the large sums.
The duo collected more money from the trust after taking the man to Samoa in July 2017 to participate in a residential treatment program. From there, investigators say Misiona Patane lied or exaggerated expenses to the trust to get more money. He allegedly represented himself as an employee of the treatment program and emailed the disabled man's guardians and a financial adviser to get more money. The disabled man was removed from the treatment program in January 2018 without the guardians' knowledge, charging documents allege, adding that it was done by Misiona Patane to obtain more money from the trust.
Further, federal investigators say Misiona Patane lied to guardians and said the disabled man must stay in Samoa or risk arrest if he tried to reenter the United States. In total, the disabled man was in Samoa for a year after he was removed from the treatment program. The man later returned to the U.S. in February 2019.
Misiona Patane is currently being held at the Davis County Jail after a federal magistrate ruled he is a risk to the community, as well as a flight risk. The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement that some of the crimes took place while Misiona Patane was under federal probation for a previous fraud conviction.
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