Posted on 04/13/2004 9:21:14 AM PDT by Eala
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A man who told investors he was developing a face recognition system following the 2001 terrorist attacks has been arrested on fraud charges, investigators said Monday.
Ross Rojek, 36, of Sacramento, was charged with wire and mail fraud for his operation of Face Information Technology, known as Face IT, the FBI said. He also apparently operated American Equity Group LLC under the alias of Jason Williams, the FBI alleged in an affidavit made public Monday.
While Rojek purportedly told investors he was developing a system that would automatically match distinct facial features to a database, "it doesn't seem to be anything he was seriously working on," said Karen Twomey Ernst, an FBI spokeswoman.
It was unclear whether Rojek had hired a lawyer.
Investors received an unsolicited telephone call, followed by a business prospectus sent by express mail, the affidavit says. The prospectus included apparently bogus biographies of Face IT's management team alleging they were highly educated former executives of Netscape Communications, it says.
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