FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         CIV
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1997                          (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
      U.S. RECOVERS $2.8 MILLION FOR INTERNET FRAUD VICTIMS

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States has recovered $2.8
million that had been wired to bank accounts in Antigua, West
Indies, by the promoters of a fraudulent marketing scheme
championed on the Internet, the Department of Justice announced
today.

     The recovery will be used to reimburse victims of the
scheme, said Assistant Attorney General Frank W. Hunger of the
Civil Division.

     "We will not tolerate information superhighway robbery,"
said Hunger.  "We are taking our fight against fraud to the
Internet.  We will track down electronic rip-off artists and we
will continue to reimburse Americans who are swindled." 
 
     The scheme, as promoted on the Internet by Fortuna Alliance,
promised consumers in more than 60 countries profits of more than
$5,000 a month if they paid an "enrollment fee" of $250.

     Upon receipt of the money, Fortuna, however, wired it
immediately to offshore trust accounts in the Swiss American
Bank, Limited, in St. John's, Antigua. 

     Acting on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, the
Department obtained an order from the High Court of Antigua
freezing the wired funds.  Also named in the Antigua action were
Augie and Monique Delgado, Libby Welch and Donald Grant, who
operated the scam primarily from Bellvue, Washington.

     The Department acted after the FTC on May 23, 1996, obtained
an order from U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington,
enjoining Fortuna from promoting the scheme over the Internet. 
The court also ordered the promoters to return to the U.S. the
millions of dollars they had wired to Antigua.

     Delgado and the other Fortuna promoters agreed to the
transfer of the funds as part of a settlement to end the FTC's
litigation against them.

     The case is the 12th fraudulent scheme involving the
Internet.
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97-081