A Filipino beauty queen has been indicted and arrested for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme in Sacramento, California.

Maria Dickerson, also know as Dulce Pino, a Filipina pageant queen was indicted and arrested for 24 counts of wire fraud, one count of securities fraud, and seven counts of money laundering.

She appeared in custody at the Eastern California District Court in Sacramento on Tuesday afternoon where she pleaded not guilty. She remains in custody, with a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Her alleged victims, including former Philippine actress Rita Magdalena told ABS-CBN News that they welcome this development, and believe it is a step closer to getting justice. Magdalena is among several alleged victims living in California.  

Dickerson is accused of running a Ponzi scheme under the shell company Creative Legal Fundings, where she allegedly promised some 140 investors, who believed they were investing in a legal services company, a fixed monthly return with additional compounding monthly interest if they left their money invested with her.

“In reality, Dickerson used new investor money to pay off prior investors, to fund a lavish lifestyle, and to purchase Mercedes-Benz vehicles and a home in Sacramento,” a DOJ statement read.

The indictment claims that she had raised some 7 million dollars from investors, adding she did not register the sales of her securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Beginning in 2023, dozens of plaintiffs in several states, and many from local Filipino communities claimed that Dickerson stopped issuing payments, and eventually begun filing civil lawsuits against Dickerson.

The complaints also led to investigations by the IRS, the Security and Exchange Commission.

The Philippines Honorary Consulate in San Diego had also issued a warning for Filipinos doing businesses with her, while the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation had also issued a Desist and Refrain Order against Dickerson.

A conviction could cost her as much 20 years of prison and five million dollars in fines.

In a statement to ABS-CBN News, Dickerson’s lawyer Mark Reichel explained that Ms Dickerson started a “creative and honest plan to form a beneficial investment fund.”

“It immediately grew at a speed which was not manageable at all, and many who invested early on started to then solicit funds and make promises to others to send money to the fund— often without  Ms Dickerson’s awareness.”

Reichel added: “Many investors made extreme returns on their investments and then refused to share their exorbitant returns with those they had brought in. Ms Dickerson has been trying to liquidate assets to make everyone whole when this arrest occurred.”