A joint international task force is expected to prosecute five Jamaican nationals accused of running a lottery scheme while working at a Fayette County resort, a report in the Tribune-Review outlines.

Michaelee Fitz-Andy Jamieson, 23; Christopher Lionel Brown, 26; Junior Winston Powell, 31; Sylvester Howard Williams, 32; and Jeffrey August Bernard, 23, were charged by state police with running an international lottery scheme that bilked a Franklin, Indiana woman out of $16,000 as part of the fictitious 'Mega Millions Lottery.'

special visas

The men were reported to be living in associate housing at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington, where they were employed on special visas as dishwashers and in the laundry room, according to a resort spokesman.

Victims were told they had won the lottery but had to send money to the five men at the Farmington address for the funds to be released, police allege.

Jamieson told police most of the money was sent to Jamaica.

The investigation was prompted by a Parkvale Bank employee who reported that on October 5, Bernard opened a checking account with a $25,000 cheque from a Topeka couple.

The five men were to appear on February 1 before North Union District judge Wendy Dennis for preliminary hearings, but Dennis said the hearings were cancelled because federal warrants are expected to be filed.

Trooper Thomas Broadwater said investigators with an international joint task force — Jamaican Operations Linked to Telemarketing, or JOLT — have taken over the case. The men are to be transferred into federal custody he said.

Led by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, JOLT is a joint task force that targets Jamaica-based telemarketing fraud operations.

Partners include the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the FBI, Postal Service, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, according to the Department of Homeland Security's website.