"Gringa" Fugitive May
Soon Be in Costa Rica
Rob Parrett, son of
Rebecca Parrett,
who disappeared days
after being convicted in
a us$1.9 billion
corporate fraud case
likened to the Enron and
WorldCom scandals said
that she would flee to
Costa Rica if found
guilty, her son
recalled.
Rebecca Parrett, 59, a
former vice chairwoman
of National Century
Financial Enterprises in
suburban Columbus, flew
into Phoenix less than
48 hours after her
conviction in March,
picked up a two-month
supply of a prescription
drug at a pharmacy near
her home and told
relatives she would
spend a few days at a
bed-and-breakfast.
Parrett hasn't been seen
since, and a federal
judge in Columbus, Ohio,
issued a warrant for her
arrest.
Her only child, Rob
Parrett, recalled a
conversation with his
mother just after she
was indicted in 2006.
"She said she 'wasn't
going to jail for
something she didn't
do,'" Rob Parrett said
in an interview
published Sunday in The
Columbus Dispatch. She
mentioned Costa Rica as
a destination, he said.
The Dirección de
Migración y Extranjería
(Costa Rican immigration
service) confirms that
Parrett was in Costa
Rica between August 30
and September 4, 2005,
though there are no
records indicating that
has visited since.
Parrett and four other
executives were
convicted March 13 of
securities fraud and
other charges in what
prosecutors said was a
scheme to defrauded
National Century
investors. National
Century, based in
Dublin, Ohio, called
itself the country's
largest health care
financing company when
it collapsed in 2002.
Parrett, who faces a
prison term that could
top 20 years, had given
up her passport and was
supposed to be confined
to her home in Carefree,
Ariz., until sentencing.
A few days after her
disappearance, federal
prosecutors alleged the
defendants plotted to
escape to Aruba on a
cruise ship, and the
remaining four were
arrested.
Defense attorneys deny
any such plot.
Rob Parrett, 41, said
he's worried about his
mother. He said his
mother has a
life-threatening medical
condition but he doesn't
know what it is.
"I don't think she would
have taken off without
saying something," he
said. "I want to know
she's OK."
If she were going to
flee, she would have
made arrangements for
things important to her,
including her three
Alaskan Malamute dogs
and four cats, her son
said. Artwork and
jewelry were left in her
home, too.
Rebecca Parrett told
relatives that she was
going to a
bed-and-breakfast in
northern Arizona on
March 16, but it's
unclear if she went,
said deputy U.S. Marshal
Drew Shadwick, the lead
investigator in her
disappearance. A clerk
at the bed-and-breakfast
said there is no record
of Parrett being there.
Shadwick will say little
about the search for
Parrett except that the
investigation is
continuing. Her sixth
husband, Gary Green, is
the last person known to
have seen her, Shadwick
said.
Her defense attorney,
Greg Peterson, said he
doesn't know where
Parrett is but is
concerned about her
well-being.
Rob Parrett said the
last time he saw his
mother was March 9, his
birthday. She knocked on
the guest house at her
Arizona ranch estate,
where he had been
living. She had to fly
back to Columbus that
morning for the last
week of the trial, and
she handed him a card
and spoke for about two
minutes, he said.
The card was a serious
one, mentioning life's
changes and how they
could be overcome. He
talked to his mother
again, briefly by phone,
before her conviction.
Calls since then have
gone straight to voice
mail, he said.
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