Alleged Con Artist Pearlasia Gamboa Explains Her Fake Island Nation (VIDEO)

People facing serious accusations of financial fraud aren't habitually chummy with the media. Redwood City resident Pearlasia Gamboa is an exception to this rule, as SF Weekly discovered when she paid a recent visit to our office.

Gamboa, the subject of this week's cover story, has participated in various bizarre schemes over the years. Among them are a mysterious overseas gold-mining operation; a declaration of "spiritual warfare" against the state of California; and an island nation, the Dominion of Melchizedek, that banking authorities say is an elaborate hoax designed to perpetrate white-collar crime.

Gamboa denies all allegations of wrongdoing, and some of her explanations are pretty creative. For instance, she sees no problem with the fact that the island claimed as Melchizedek's territorial capital is actually below sea level. We thought we'd let Gamboa speak for herself in the above videorecording of portions of SF Weekly staff writer Peter Jamison's interview with her. 

Those with a hankering for more Melchizedekiana can also check out this 1996 story from our sister paper, the Dallas Observer, about the schemes of convicted con man Jeffrey H. Reynolds III, the Dominion's former secretary of commerce.

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