What did Maurice Eugene Smith do? All we know about George Mason travel agent's $160,000 scandal
Maurice Eugene Smith, a travel agent and owner of the luxury travel company Eugene Toriko LLC, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges during his time with the George Mason University men's basketball team. Before kicking off last season in August, George Mason was scheduled to depart on a trip to the Bahamas. The school had hired Maurice Eugene Smith as its travel agent to book the trip.
However, in the hours before they left for the event, officials at George Mason discovered that the flights and everything else with the event had not been booked. This was discovered despite the fact that the team had made a $160,000 payment to Smith, causing a massive media uproar and an FBI investigation, which was first reported by Sportico.
Early in April, Maurice Eugene Smith entered a plea deal with the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. The deal he signed will force Smith to pay a $250,000 fine, completely reimburse George Mason University and other victims, and forfeit any items connected to his fraudulent acts.
Maurice Eugene Smith entered this plea deal in the hopes that he would get a reduced sentence for his fraudulent activities. Without a plea deal, this crime could have kept Smith in prison for decades. He is scheduled to receive his sentence on July 17th.
What did Maurice Eugene Smith use George Mason's money for?
Maurice Eugene Smith released a statement of facts as part of his plea deal. In the statement, Smith admitted to using client funds, including those received from George Mason University, for personal expenses. Part of the funds were used to repay debts owed to other victims of his Ponzi scheme.
George Mason University was not the only victim of Smith's fraudulent acts, as according to his plea deal, the alleged fraud took place between 2022 and 2024.
George Mason started working with Smith in June 2023 to organize this 2024 trip to the Bahamas. The event was meant to have the university compete in two exhibition games against local teams. However, Smith did not make the reservations, book flights, reserve hotel rooms, or make any accommodations.
Instead, Smith admitted that he uses a portion of the money to pay for personal trips to Tulum, Mexico, and Panama City. In September 2024, he tried to absolve himself of responsibility, claiming the trip cancellation was a logistical error.