'World's sexiest albino' posed as BLM leader to steal nearly $500k through fake charity, prosecutors
An activist who calls himself the "world’s sexiest albino" is on trial this week after allegedly conning nearly $500,000 from donors through a reportedly phony Black Lives Matter charitable group he established.
The FBI arrested Sir Maejor Page, 35, back in 2020 after a complaint detailed how he fraudulently utilized a Black Lives Matter non-profit organization "by way of misrepresentations and by posing as a Black Lives Matter leader."
Page, who is also known as Tyree Conyers-Page, began his trial on Tuesday stemming from federal charges of wire fraud, one count of concealment money laundering and two counts of money laundering. He pleaded not guilty to the charges back in 2021 and has seen his trial repeatedly pushed back, including in August, before it kicked off this week.
Authorities detailed that in 2018, Page set up a bank account called "Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta Inc.," and also set up a social media page, "Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta," as a supposed charitable foundation and listed the group on GoFundMe, the FBI said in 2020.
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Page is a former actor who has appeared in small roles on TV shows such as "American Horror Story" and "Constantine." He dubbed himself "the world's sexiest Albino model and actor" on his Vimeo account, a video sharing platform, the Daily Mail reported.
Authorities say funds in the Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta Inc. bank account "ebbed and flowed" after he established the account in 2018, seeing highs exceeding $5,000 and lows of -$12.42.
In the summer of 2020, however, Page saw a donation boon, according to the FBI: with the social media account pulling in $36,493.80 in June, $370,933.69 in July and $59,914.69 in August.
The increase in donations followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May of 2020, which sparked renewed calls from coast to coast to defund the police, support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and widespread protests and riots in many cities. The movement even swept the highest echelons of America, from corporate leaders to Hollywood icons to powerful sports figures pledging support to BLM and supporting the message that police departments should lose their funding.
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Page claimed that none of the funds donated would be used for personal purchases and were given to "all movement related" causes, but authorities found evidence showing a different story.
"However in June, July, and August, Page repeatedly used a debit card linked to this same account to make purchases related to food, dining, entertainment, clothing, furniture, a home security system, tailored suits and accessories. The largest sum purchase made from the BLMGA bank account was to a title company on August 21, 2020, for the purchase of a residence and an adjacent vacant lot in Toledo, Ohio. The total purchase price for both properties was approximately $112,000," the FBI said in the press release when he was first arrested.
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Page reportedly tried to conceal his ownership of the property, with the real estate transaction outlining the purchase was "by and between Hi Frequency Ohio via Sir Maejor Page" and a real estate agent. Page also purchased a handgun and two AR-15s, totaling roughly $3,000, a month after buying the real estate, according to an FBI agent’s testimony at the trial.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation responded to the allegations against Page in 2020, following his arrest, saying that he "has continued to compromise the integrity of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, supporters, and allies."
"Our stance remains that Mr. Page is not affiliated with Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation," the group continued at the time.
Black Lives Matter released another statement Thursday reiterating that it is "unassociated with Sir Maejor Page and the organization he founded."
"Black Lives Matter Foundation, the global organization powering Black Lives Matter, is unassociated with Sir Maejor Page and the organization he founded," BLM said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Anyone can start an organization and add the words Black Lives Matter to it in an attempt to muddy the waters of our movement. There exists no affiliation, past or present, between the two entities. Any purported ties between the two are unequivocally baseless and untrue."
Page is facing trial in Toledo, Ohio, in a case presided over by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Helmick, the Toledo Blade reported. FBI agent Matthew DeSorbo, one of the lead investigators on the case, testified this week that the FBI did not find instances of Page directly soliciting donations through ads or direct messages, but said he believes Page "did mislead donors by not providing answers" to them on the legitimacy of the group.
DeSorbo presented the court with a handful of videos Page posted to social media to show how Page began wearing "fancy suits and sunglasses" in the summer of 2020 and appeared to be making "lavish purchases." DeSorbo detailed that Page bragged about owning "16 blue suits" and having "six figures," which DeSorbo argued could only mean donations to the phony charity, the Toledo Blade reported.
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The videos also include Page boasting about the office space in Atlanta he had set up for the reportedly phony organization, "$150 dollar ties" and the position of a hotel room he stayed in.
"My room way up at the top…at the top top…they put the bottom feeders on these floors…." he said of the hotel room.
Page’s attorney, Charles Boss, pushed back that the videos were just evidence of a young man’s "braggadocio," the Toledo Blade reported, and that more than half the money that was raised was never spent, as the federal government seized $263,318 in 2020 when Page was arrested. He added that the real estate purchased in Ohio was intended for a "battered women's shelter."
Donors to the group also testified that they believed the group was connected to the national Black Lives Matter group, saying Page misrepresented his group by styling its name after the national organization.
The trial is anticipated to continue through the week, the Toledo Blade reported.