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MINNEAPOLIS, Feb 19, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Minnesota woman is charged with concealing an alleged scam to defraud investors in a nonexistent TV series about the Homeland Security Department.
Alison Ann Heruth and her business associate Joseph Medawar said the show had the backing of the president of the United States and the endorsement of the Department of Homeland Security, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
Heruth, 41, was arrested Friday in Oakdale, Minn.
A federal indictment said Heruth made false statements to federal investigators and concealed the scheme from authorities. Medawar is accused of bilking 70 investors or more out of $5.5 million from May 2003 to September 2005 by telling them that a production company called Steeple Entertainment was planning to sell stock in a TV series to the public.
The show, based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was to be called "DHS: The Series."
Medawar, arrested in September, has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, the newspaper said.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
