An Orange Walk resident also had his day in court after he allegedly scammed a 17-year-old on Facebook. 29-year-old Michael Welch - who is no stranger to Facebook scams - was arraigned this morning on a single charge of obtaining money transfer by deception. He was unrepresented in court and pleaded not guilty. Bail was granted in the sum of $1,200, which he was unable to meet by the end of the day. With that, he was remanded to the Belize Central Prison.
According to the victim, on Monday May 23rd, she saw that Welch, under the name Imani Pineda, was selling a phone for $380 on Facebook. She deposited the money into an account but never received the phone. Police investigated the incident and found Welch to be the scammer.
Earlier this year, Welch had appeared in court on another charge of obtaining property by deception. It was a similar incident, a victim who'd never received the phone they paid for.
Welch will be back in court on July 26th, 2022.
