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

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — 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.