Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announce the indictment of Thomas Foley, III, for fraud and money laundering in connection with a Broward County business known as Global Vending, Inc. (Global). Foley’s sister, Paula Foley, also was indicted for money laundering. Both defendants appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, May 7, 2004. Thomas Foley, III, was released on a $250,000 bond. Paula Foley was released on a $100,000 bond. Arraignment is set for May 21, 2004, at 11:00 in Fort Lauderdale.

The Indictment consists of 34 counts. The five (5) mail and wire fraud counts allege that Thomas Foley, III, operated a Ponzi scheme involving the sale of script automatic teller machines (ATMs). If convicted, Thomas Foley, III, faces a maximum penalty of twenty (20) years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on each mail and wire fraud count. The twenty-nine (29) money laundering counts allege that Thomas Foley, III, used the proceeds of the fraud to purchase luxury items, including Mercedes Benz automobiles, jewelry, and homes. They also allege that the defendants transferred fraud proceeds through numerous bank accounts after federal authorities, on January 15, 2004, seized over $1.6 million related to the fraud. If convicted, each of the money laundering counts carries a maximum penalty of ten (10) years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

According to the Indictment, Global, between January 2002 and January 2004, purported to be in the business of selling script ATMs to investors and placed the ATMs in retail locations and arranged for processing of the transactions. A script ATM machine dispensed a merchant voucher after a customer inserted or swiped a credit card or debit card through it. The voucher was used to purchase merchandise from the merchant named on the voucher. The customer was charged a transaction fee, usually $1.25, which was shared among the merchant, the owner of the machine, and one or more companies involved in processing and clearing the transaction.

Global advised investors that it would use the investor’s money to purchase script ATMs for the investors, and then place these machines in retail locations. Investors were assigned ownership of specific script ATMs based on unique terminal identification numbers. Investors were told that they would receive approximately $.80 for each transaction on their script ATM machines. Investors would receive a monthly payment for their share of the machines’ revenue.

Beginning in or before January 2002, Global began assigning multiple owners to the same script ATMs, a practice known as “stacking”. Ultimately, Global sold approximately 3,200 script ATMs to approximately 350 investors. However, Global placed only approximately 1,100 script ATMs machines in retail locations. Existing investors were not told that their machines had been assigned previously to another owner. New investors’ money was not used to purchase new script ATM machines. Rather, without their knowledge or consent, new investor money was used to make payments to existing investors and for the personal benefit of defendant Thomas J. Foley, III, who used money from Global to purchase homes, luxury automobiles, and jewelry.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts the of Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Bruce E. Reinhart and Laurence Bardfeld.