Fugitive Lunar Embassy Operator Arrested

Canadian franchisee, wanted on fraud charges, arrested in Nevada mall; had gambled with Dennis Hope in Las Vegas prior to disappearance.

London (PRWEB) January 17, 2004 -- Chatham-Kent police are arranging to retrieve a fugitive lunar realtor found selling hand lotion at a Las Vegas mall kiosk.

Lisa Fulkerson, 33, waived extradition Tuesday after the FBI arrested her on a provisional warrant. She remained in custody at the Las Vegas city jail last night, awaiting removal from the U.S.

"We're waiting for all the paperwork to go through," said Chatham-Kent police Inspector Tim Mifflin. Mifflin couldn't estimate how long it will be before Fulkerson is back in Canada.

If she's still in the U.S. until Jan. 23, she will have a "status hearing" to update her case, the U.S. Marshals office said.

She failed to make a court appearance in Canada in November when she was expected to plead guilty to theft and fraud charges involving the Bank of Nova Scotia and more than $600,000 (CAD).

More charges, including four counts of breach of recognizance, one charge of assault, one count of uttering a forged document and one of using counterfeit documents, were filed after she disappeared.

The once-prominent businessperson made her name in Chatham selling novelty land plots on the moon. Fulkerson owned Moon Land Registry, through which she bought some lunar real estate to sell in Canada.

At first, customers lined up for hours to snap up one-acre plots for $10 each. Former business partner Dennis Hope, based in Nevada, said in the the first days of her operation, she brought in $400,000, but he never saw the money.

Hope said he has never received one registered property owner from Fulkerson.

The whispers around Chatham were that millions of dollars from more than 50 investors vanished with Fulkerson, people she convinced could make millions in her moon real estate company.

Now, there are whispers of losses in the millions.

Her miffed American boss, Dennis M. Hope, who runs a novelty moon property sales company, Lunar Embassy (see http://www.geocities.com/moonsayles), a few hours from Las Vegas in Gardnerville, Nev., said he's also about to file paperwork -- a $1.2-million US lawsuit against Fulkerson for failing to make payments on properties he sold her.

He said yesterday he had met Fulkerson twice in Vegas before her disappearance to discuss business. Both meetings were at Caesar's Palace and both times Hope and Fulkerson gambled.

"She loves to gamble," he said. "I don't know if she has a gambling problem. I know that she likes the table," he said.

Additional coverage at http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/01/15/313427.html