Secret Service investigates local immigration scam

British born-and-raised Terry Dunne dreamt of moving to Florida, setting up shop and retiring comfortably.

But last fall, the 64-year-old’s journey overseas turned into a nightmare.

“I was planning to buy a business and obviously buying a home once I got there, but everything went wrong,” Dunne said on the phone from England on Tuesday.

Using the Internet, he had hired New Horizon’s Group, a Sarasota company that offered to help get a visa available to Britons who invest in businesses in America. Its owner, Derick Coles, promised to hold Dunne’s investment money in escrow in a SunTrust Bank account so he could make the move from England to Florida.

Dunne attended a New Horizons Group immigration forum in a UK hotel.

The presentation was likeable.

The advice looked legitimate.

He even investigated Coles on the Internet. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, he said. So he started the application process two years ago.

“The whole setup seemed professional, and I decided there was no reason I wouldn’t go with them,” Dunne said.

Little did he know that, months after he wired his money into the escrow account, he’d still be in England without a visa and out $290,000.

When his application to live in the United States was denied last fall, he tried to get his money back.

It was gone.

So was Coles.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating Coles’ immigration company, U.S. Secret Service Tampa field office spokesman John W. Joyce said Tuesday.

“Mr. Coles is of interest to the Secret Service; however, we are not in a position to discuss this active investigation. Perhaps we will have more in a few weeks,” Joyce wrote in an e-mail to the Bradenton Herald.

So far, at least 15 families say they trusted Coles to keep their money — about $3.5 million — in his alleged escrow account, Dunne said.

“This wasn’t an investment; this was private money in what was allegedly a secure and bonded escrow account to which he should not have had access to,” Dunne said. “He went in and stole the money.”

Before U.S. Immigration considers a business visa, investment funds must be deposited into a U.S. escrow account.

“Coles allegedly had an escrow account and offered himself as an escrow agent,” Dunne said. “When the time was right, I transferred the $290,000 into his so-called escrow account.”

But Dunne claims that Coles and the attorney working for his company, Jack D. King, did not place proper security protections on the account Coles created.

“As far as Coles’ victims are concerned, King is accused of being delinquent in his responsibility toward his clients for not advising that the escrow accounts were bogus,” Dunne said.

Dunne said the victims are angry and want Coles held accountable for his alleged actions.

About a week after he discovered his money was missing, Dunne started a Web site, derickcoles.com, to urge other victims to contact the U.S. Secret Service.