Facebook postings trap fugitive

14 October 2009 11:06am

Facebook postings have landed a 26-year-old native of Cameroon in a Mexico City jail, where he is awaiting extradition to the United States on bank fraud charges.

While on the run, Maxi Sopo started posting Facebook updates about how much fun he was having - and added a former Justice Department official to his list of friends.

"He was making posts about how beautiful life is and how he was having a good time with his buddies," said Assistant US Attorney Michael Scoville, who helped find Sopo.

Investigators initially could find no trace of him on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and they were unable to pin down his exact location in Mexico.

But several months later, Secret Service agent Seth Reeg checked Facebook again - and up popped Maxi Sopo.

Although Sopo's profile was set to private, his list of friends was not, and Scoville started combing through it.

He was surprised to see that one friend listed an affiliation with the Justice Department and sent him a message requesting a phone call.

The fugitive had been living at a nice apartment complex, working at a hotel and partying at Cancun's beaches, pools and nightclubs, Scoville said.

Prosecutors say he masterminded the bank fraud scheme with Edward Asatoorians, who was convicted by a federal jury in Seattle.

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