Virgin-Islands-On-Line's Coconut Telegraph

You can't make this stuff up!

From the AP:

U.S. agents arrest Virgin Islands woman

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands -- U.S. agents arrested a Virgin Islands woman for allegedly posing as an American ambassador, occasionally getting body guard protection and even riding in motorcades, an official said Friday.

Elena Lin Yee was arrested Thursday and charged with impersonating a U.S. government official and misuse of official documents, said Christopher Tremann, a special agent with the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security.

He said Yee used fake credentials to pose as a U.S. ambassador to Grenada, the wife of a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a U.S. ambassador-at-large.

She convinced U.S. and foreign government officials to provide her with body guards, motorcades and access to events, Tremann said.

He said the State Department had investigated Lee in 1996 for using false credentials, but no charges were filed.

He said her arrest came after she allegedly tried to bypass U.S. customs by using State Department credentials. The credentials were authentic but Lee had not been entitled to them, he said.

By posing as a U.S. ambassador-at-large, Yee also briefly held a seat on the advisory board of the National Society of High School Scholars, said Delle Driskell, vice-president of the Atlanta-based organization, which provides scholarships to high school graduates.

She was released on $10,000 bail. Yee, a longtime resident of St. Thomas, the largest U.S. Virgin island, could face up to eight years in prison if convicted. She will be arraigned Sept. 21.

Posted by afinta at September 10, 2005 08:12 AM

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