Northern Ireland £500K scam accused accused faces extradition from US

An American woman is facing prosecution for allegedly committing a £500,000 mortgage scam in Northern Ireland.

arianne Smyth is currently in the United States but faces extradition after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) recently decided to bring a case against her.

Sunday Life understands Smyth (52) is alleged to have swindled more than 20 people during her time in Northern Ireland from 2002 to 2009 when she worked as a mortgage adviser.

She worked for An Independent Mortgage Solution Ltd based on Stockmans Lane in west Belfast and another mortgage firm based in England.

Last week a spokesperson for the PPS confirmed to Sunday Life that a decision to prosecute had been taken but they could not comment further on the case.

Smyth was born in the US state of Maine and after leaving school she spent time as a medical orderly in the United States Navy based in Florida.

After working in various odd jobs over the years she arrived here from Tennessee with her then teenage daughter in early 2002.

Smyth had met a Northern Irish man online and made the trip to marry the Royal Mail employee and eventually found work as a mortgage adviser while the couple also kept racing greyhounds. 

It understood Smyth left Northern Ireland to return to the United States with her daughter in 2009 where she spent time working for a travel agency in Los Angeles.

Her current exact whereabouts are unknown but she is believed to be residing somewhere near her home town town of Bangor, Maine.