Hiyas ng Pilipinas chair indicted for book publishing scam in US

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Two Filipinos, including a prominent personality in the pageant industry, are now facing 20 years in prison in the United States for defrauding aspiring American authors a total of $44 million (roughly P2.5 billion in today’s rates).

The District Attorney of the Southern District California on January 15 announced the indictment of Gemma Traya Austin, Michael Cris Traya Sordilla, Bryan Navales Tarosa.

Austin, Sordilla and Tarosa are facing charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy for operating a book publishing scam that ran for 7 years.

Sordilla, 32, was the chair of Hiyas ng Pilipinas, a newly founded beauty pageant in the Philippines.

He also established a business process outsourcing based in Mandaue City called Innocentrix Philippines where Tarosa, 34, was its vice president of operations.

Innocentrix Philippines was also tagged in the fraud scheme.

Sordilla and Tarosa were arrested on December 9, 2024, in San Diego while Austin was arrested last December 12, 2024, in Chula Vista. All three are already under custody, the District Attorney said.

The District Attorney gave them a jail time of 20 years, and also ordered them to pay a fine of $250,000.

Modus

According to prosecutors, their modus operandi involved enticing aspiring authors, mostly elderlies, to have their works published and turned to movie adaptations under one condition: pay fees first.

“What started with the promise of a Hollywood dream turned into a devastating nightmare for victims,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath.

The scam ran from September 2017 and December 2024, investigators said.

Austin, Sordilla and Tarosa conspired to use PageTurner in order to operate a book publishing scam. They also used Innocentrix Philippines to contact individual authors through unsolicited calls and emails.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified around 800 victims who collectively lost more than $44 million.

“As part of the conspiracy, the scammers falsely told victims their works had been selected for acquisition by publishers or movie studios, and fraudulently convinced victims to send PageTurner payments for various services, including pre-payment of taxes and transaction fees, before the victim-author’s work could be published or optioned to studios,” the District Attorney explained.

On the other hand, further investigation into the case is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service.