Couple indicted on fraud charges

Robert L. Syrax and Sandra D. Coronado were indicted on 24 counts including mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate transportation of property obtained by fraud, the Orange County Register reported.

The newspaper said police believe Syrax, 56, masterminded a telemarketing scheme in which investors were promised hefty returns on their purchases of an initial offering of stock in Gecko Holdings Inc.

Syrax and his phone solicitors told investors their stock would more than triple in value when the company went public, the indictment says.

"Gecko, in fact, never made a stock offering," the indictment says.

Investigators alleged the company never existed and that Syrax's only intention was to make off with investors' money.

Syrax and Coronado, 46, allegedly emptied bank accounts of more than $2.5 million when they fled Orange County last month.

The newspaper said an associate drove the couple to Las Vegas, where they bought a car and then drove to Florida.

The Orange County Register reported they were arrested there by FBI agents, who surprised the couple as Syrax sat sipping a martini and smoking a cigar in a Palm Coast motel room.

The newspaper said the couple is to be arraigned May 3.

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