Three Year Investigation Leads Organized Crime and Vice Division Detective to Two

LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, April 15, 1999

On Wednesday, March 31, 1999, Organized Crime and Vice Division detectives filed 43 felony counts of Security Frauds Violations, Grand Theft and Money Laundering, resulting in the issuance of Felony warrants against two suspects involved in a telemarketing scheme.

The felony charges are the culmination of a three-year investigation which began in May, 1996. Los Angeles Police Department detectives and investigators from the California Department of Corporations located an Internet web site offering investment opportunities in slot machines on an Indian reservation in New Mexico. Also involved was a slot machine manufacturer operating in the City of Los Angeles. The investigation identified ten investors located throughout the United States who invested and eventually lost in excess of $500,000.

Salespersons working for the telemarketing company, which was operating out of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, convinced potential investors that the investment would pay dividends on a quarterly basis and eventually turn great profits.

Both of the suspects, Derrick Devon Stephens of Marina Del Rey, and Sylvan Morgan Metoyer, of Los Angeles, were arrested on felony warrants for Security Fraud, Grand Theft and Money Laundering.

For further information, contact Detective Frank Lipus, Gaming Section, Organized Crime and Vice Division at 213-473-7633.

For Release 4:00 p.m. PDT
April 15, 1999