$109K Scam Targets GMU Men's Basketball Team, Arrest Made: Court

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A 44-year-old Atlanta man is facing wire fraud charges for scamming the George Mason University men’s basketball team out of more than $109,000 meant to pay for a five-day trip to the Bahamas, according to court documents.

In June 2023, representatives of the GMU men’s basketball team contacted a company identified as Company A in court documents to discuss an international trip in August 2024. Company A’s owner contacted Maurice Eugene Smith, owner of Eugene Toriko LLC., to help arrange the trip to Nassau, Bahamas, court records say.

On Sept. 25, 2023, Smith sent a $149,542.40 estimate to Company A, which would cover transportation, hotel accommodations, activities, and some meals for 30 people, according to court documents.

“In early 2024, the owner of Company A presented a detailed draft itinerary and cost estimate to GMU for a five-day trip to Nassau, Bahamas, based in part on information that Smith had provided to Company A,” according to court records. “On Feb. 26, Smith allegedly emailed another draft invoice for the trip that totaled $164,336, which included pricing for all transportation, lodging, a private catamaran tour, some meals, and fees associated with basketball games. The owner of Company A frequently relayed information that Smith allegedly provided to him about the trip’s cost and itinerary to GMU. At one point, Smith allegedly lowered the proposed cost of the trip to $159,756.”

GMU representatives, members of the George Mason University Foundation and Company A digitally signed a contract on April 3, court records say. The foundation then wired $55,914.60 to Company A’s bank account on April 17.

“On April 19, Smith allegedly emailed Company A an invoice that detailed the services Eugene Toriko LLC was to provide on behalf of Company A for GMU and GMUF, and the cost for those services. On April 24, Company A wired $40,800 to Eugene Toriko LLC’s bank account,” according to court documents.

Based on information from Smith, Company A sent an invoice to GMU for $103,841, which the foundation wired to Company A’s bank account on May 23. Company A then paid Eugene Toriko LLC $57,736.07 on May 29 and the remaining balance of $11,220 on June 10, court records say.

“Family members, friends, and supporters of the GMU men’s basketball student-athletes also paid Company A and Eugene Toriko LLC to accompany the team on their trip to the Bahamas,” according to court documents. “As alleged in the complaint, Smith reserved 30 seats for “[GMU] MENS BASKETBALL” on roundtrip flights between Ronald Reagan National Airport and Nassau International Airport for which he was to pay a $3,000 deposit no later than May 24 with the balance due by July 9. Smith also allegedly reserved a block of rooms for the GMU men’s basketball team at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in the Bahamas. Although Eugene Toriko LLC received $109,756.07 from Company A, Smith allegedly spent no money to hold those reservations, and no payments were made to any catamaran companies or to any Bahamian companies.”

Although Smith never purchased the airline tickets or hotel rooms, he continued to email and text Company A’s owner as if he had up to three days before the team was set to depart for the Bahamas in August, according to the complaint.

“GMUF has not been reimbursed for any payments made to Company A and Eugene Toriko LLC. Although Smith allegedly represented that his professional liability insurance would cover the loss, he allowed his professional liability insurance to lapse and was not insured at the time,” court records say.

Smith faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted on the wire fraud charge.