Woman charged in Nigerian puppy scam
Friday, September 14, 2007 7:03 AM PDT
By Leslie Slape
Printable version
E-mail this articleA Longview woman has been charged in Cowlitz County Superior Court in connection with a Nigerian puppy scam in which she claimed to be an innocent pawn.
Vickie Lynn Huff, 55, of Longview appeared in court Wednesday on a summons for charges of 10 counts of forgery and one count each of second-degree theft and first-degree possession of stolen property. Arraignment is set for Sept. 25.
Charging documents allege that Huff forged 134 money orders, cashier's checks, bank checks and MoneyGrams. The majority of the forgeries took place on July 26, 2006, charging documents state.
Instead of each individual document being a separate count of forgery, there is a separate charge for each type of document, even if there were several of that type. For example, one count accuses Huff of forging and cashing three MoneyGrams and another count accuses her of forging and cashing 117 postal money orders.
The theft charge alleges that she wrongfully obtained cash from a woman on July 1, 2006. The stolen property charge alleges that Huff concealed stolen electronics between July and October 2006.
In early November 2006, Huff told The Daily News she had been duped by a friend named "Melvis" whom she met on-line. She said Melvis, who lives in Nigeria, placed ads to sell puppies and had the customers -- who came from all over America -- send the money to her address. Huff, who admitted cashing the checks and wiring money to Melvis, claimed she thought the money went to support a church in Nigeria.
"I won't fall for his stuff anymore," Huff said at the time.
Instead of receiving a puppy, all the prospective buyers were given a sob story, such as the puppy died in a car crash en route to the airport.
A few weeks after the newspaper story ran, Longview police served a search warrant on Huff's residence and seized stolen electronics, fictitious cashier's checks, and fictitious U.S. postal money orders linked to the Nigerian puppy scam, according to a police report.
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