Couple accused of scam required women to pay for shelter or work for it

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Oklahoma City couple used the very people they were supposed to be helping in an alleged used cell phone charity scam, prosecutors say. <br/><br/>Domingo Frias-Payan, 24, and Heather

Monday, May 30th 2005, 9:25 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Oklahoma City couple used the very people they were supposed to be helping in an alleged used cell phone charity scam, prosecutors say.

Domingo Frias-Payan, 24, and Heather Frias-Payan, 25, owners of Oklahoma City-based Save a Life Give a Phone Foundation, duped donors from across the country into giving phones to benefit battered women, the Attorney General's office alleges.

The owners were charged in Oklahoma County last month with one felony count of racketeering and 11 counts of violating the Oklahoma Solicitation of Charitable Contributions Act.

According to court papers, the couple solicited about 100,000 cell phones by operating call centers in Oklahoma City and Ardmore staffed with battered women. Only about 300 phones were donated and the others were sold, the Attorney General's office said.

Investigators found most of the phones collected by Save A Life Give a Phone were not given to charity, but resold for more than $1 million, with proceeds from the sales deposited into the bank accounts of the Frias-Payans.

They're accused of operating an unregistered battered women's shelter in the Oklahoma City suburb of Nichols Hills and requiring residents to pay $125 a month or work four hours a day soliciting cell phones.

The operation was discovered by Nichols Hills police after they received calls about a large number of women coming and going from the residence.

Chief Richard Mask said he searched the house and found a basement lined with computers and stacks of phone numbers.

``It was rumored that they were running some sort of illegal shelter, but you don't expect to see stacks and stacks of phone numbers and boxes of cell phones,'' Mask said. ``We found that to be highly suspicious and irregular.''

Mask contacted several agencies, including the consumer protection unit of the attorney general's office, which already had received tips that the operation might not be legitimate.

``When we found out Mr. Frias was involved we decided we needed to go a little deeper,'' said Tom Bates, assistant attorney general with the consumer protection unit.

Bates said there is demand overseas for used cell phones because Third World countries that can't afford to build the infrastructure for a land line telephone system are putting up cell towers, he said.

According to court papers, the couple presented donors with receipts bearing the foundation's name and an Internal Revenue Service tax exempt number issued to the Oklahoma City YWCA.

Janet Peery, chief executive officer for the YWCA of Oklahoma City, said she met with Domingo Frias-Payan and listened to his plans to help her organization by providing used cell phones.

``I think, to us, he came across as very sincere,'' Peery said. ``I can tell you personally, because I made the decision, that I would have never associated with someone who did not have the same understanding or commitment to what we were doing.''

Peery said the YWCA staff trusted Domingo Frias-Payan so much they had an attorney draw up a contract for the organizations to work together to collect cell phones for battered women, the elderly and disabled.

``Our concern came when someone called asking us if we knew they were operating under our tax I.D. number,'' Peery said. ``We stopped immediately.''

Defense attorney Billy Coyle said he is examining thousands of pages of bank statements and will prove his client was operating a legitimate business.

``He will show he was a hardworking young man that was running a good clean business,'' Coyle said. ``Half the phones that people drop off, they don't drop off because they're good phones. They're junk. You don't get a lot of money out of this.''

A preliminary hearing conference is scheduled for Domingo and Heather Frias-Payan on June 2.