The attorney for a Bangor-born woman who allegedly scammed people in multiple states and countries argued Wednesday morning that there is not enough evidence in a Northern Ireland fraud case to extradite her from Maine to the United Kingdom.
Marianne Smyth’s attorney, Kaylee Folster, said in a hearing in U.S. District Court in Bangor that the evidence of Smyth’s alleged theft of roughly $172,000 in Northern Ireland does not show enough probable cause for the extradition.
Smyth, 54, was the subject of a true crime podcast, “Queen of the Con,” created by Johnathan Walton, a reality television producer in Los Angeles, who said Smyth swindled him out of nearly $100,000 after telling him she was an Irish heiress.
She was previously convicted of grand theft in Northern Ireland in 2016 and again in 2019 in California for defrauding Walton. Smyth was released from jail in December 2020, and in early 2021 she returned to her home state.
In the latest case, Smyth is charged with four counts of fraud and four counts of theft for allegedly stealing the money from clients as an independent mortgage advisor in Northern Ireland between 2008 and 2010.
The United Kingdom requested Smyth’s extradition in October, after a warrant was first issued for her arrest in 2021. She was arrested in Bingham in February.
Folster, Smyth’s attorney, argued that evidence and statements from the U.S. attorney’s office used in the case are more than 15 years old now and the only update was the accusers identifying Smyth from pictures.
The evidence also does not include details from bank statements, she said. It is only summaries of what law enforcement saw, so there are no details about the balances, how the money was spent or where it went, Folster said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Casey argued Wednesday that there is probable cause Smyth committed the thefts, pointing to statements from the four sets of victims and a statement from someone in law enforcement who investigated the case.
Smyth, who attended the hearing in-person, sat mostly silent during the proceedings while wearing an orange jumpsuit from the Piscatiquis County Jail. She was previously denied bail.
As a mortgage advisor, Smyth had a duty to safeguard and act in the interest of her clients, which she did not do, Casey said.
“She capitalized on the relationship that she had with the victims and the trust that they placed in her and convinced them that she was investing their money that she was not,” Casey said.
Federal Judge John Nivison will issue a decision no earlier than May 1. If he decides Smyth should be extradited, the recommendation will be sent to the Maine secretary of state’s office, where the final decision will be made, he said.
