[www.inewsguyana.com] – Former Beauty Queen, Olive Gopaul is concerned about her stolen identity and the impact it will have on her company. Gopaul told iNews that a woman by the name of Prethima Agustus has been impersonating her over the phone, claiming that she is seeking financial assistance from several business entities to acquire treatment for cancer.
After contacting the business entities, the woman would send persons to pick up the cash. This much was evident on Thursday, January 9 when Augustus telephoned a businessman, pretended to be Gopaul and then sent over an elderly woman to pick up $30,000.
The businessman then decided to call the real Gopaul himself, who then alerted him of the scam. iNews received an image from security footage of the elderly woman visiting the business place.
During an interview, Gopaul explained to this online news service that the impersonator was actually arrested in December 2013 for the very act, but was released by the authorities, who claimed that there is no law under which they can charge the woman for impersonating another person.
The former beauty queen noted that she started receiving telephone calls about the scam in November 2013 from businesses which she is associated with.
Gopaul averaged that from then to now, the impersonator has collected approximately half million dollars in cash. Gopaul expressed fear of what consequences this scam will have on her business media consultancy and public relations services in the future. She is urging business entities to be on the alert for this impersonator.
