Fraud charges filed after college hoops team is forced to cancel Bahamas trip

An Atlanta man has been arrested and charged with fraud after George Mason University’s men’s basketball team was forced to cancel a trip to the Bahamas earlier this year after it paid for travel that was never actually booked. Charges against 44-year-old Maurice Smith, CEO of the Eugene Toriko travel agency, were unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. According to an FBI affidavit, George Mason paid nearly $160,000 for a team trip to the Bahamas in August that was to include a pair of exhibition games and sightseeing excursions. An email seeking comment from Smith's company Friday was not returned.