A former high-ranking official at the University of Notre Dame was ordered temporarily held without bond Friday after federal prosecutors alleged he tried to abduct an ex-girlfriend in Metro Detroit and was caught with a kidnapping kit that included a gun, handcuffs, rope, a knife and a stun gun.
The order came one day after prosecutors filed a criminal case against George Mandarakas, 36, the former director of corporate relations at Notre Dame, that describes a soured relationship that started at the prestigious college. The case involves allegations of a prolonged stalking, a hidden tracking device, aliases, apparent plans to escape the country and, finally, a Christmas Day ruse involving the woman’s family that ended with Mandarakas being arrested by Trenton (Michigan) Police officers.
Following the investigation by Trenton police, Mandarakas, a resident of Randolph, New Jersey, was charged in federal court with one count of attempted kidnapping, a felony that involves traveling across state lines. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The case against Mandarakas is a rarity in Michigan. There were only 19 people convicted of kidnapping in federal courts in Michigan from 2015-22, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. That includes the 2020 case against four men convicted in federal court of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Mandarakas was emotional while making an initial appearance in federal court via Zoom on Friday from the Livingston County Jail. He was ordered to spend the long holiday weekend in jail while awaiting a detention hearing Wednesday when federal prosecutors are expected to argue that he should stay in jail pending trial.
“I’m just going to say I miss my daughter. I have a 21/2-year-old,” Mandarakas said before appearing to start to cry.
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand cautioned him against making additional comments.
Fabian Renteria, the court-appointed lawyer for Mandarakas, did not respond immediately to a message seeking comment Friday.
“The judicial process will now proceed, and we trust that it will provide a fair and just resolution in this matter,” Trenton police Chief Michael Hawkins said in a statement.
The criminal case traces the roots of the alleged crime to 2019. That is when Mandarakas met a woman at Notre Dame. According to an online biography, public records and a LinkedIn profile, Mandarakas graduated from Notre Dame in 2009 with a degree in chemical engineering, and by 2019, he was working at the university leading corporate fundraising for his alma mater, according to his LinkedIn profile.
However, Mandarakas told the woman he was a student, and they dated for 41/2 years, according to the FBI.
Two months ago, in October, the woman — now 27, according to Trenton police — learned Mandarakas was lying to her about his age, according to an FBI special agent affidavit filed in federal court.
“She told him she did not wish to continue their relationship or to have further any more contact with him,” the FBI agent wrote.
That same day, Mandarakas drove from his home in New Jersey to a hotel in Trenton, about 23 miles southwest of Detroit. While there, he sent numerous texts and tried to call the woman, who is identified as “AV-1,” an acronym for “adult victim 1,” according to the government.
She agreed to meet Mandarakas in an area park and reiterated that she did not want to have additional contact with him, the FBI agent wrote.
“As AV-1 attempted to walk to her vehicle, Mandarakas blocked her path,” the agent wrote. “AV-1 pushed Mandarakas out of the way and was able to get her driver’s door shut. Mandarakas attempted to grab a hold of the vehicle and did not let go until AV-1 started to drive away. Mandarakas then attempted to run after the vehicle for a short distance.”
More than one month later, on Nov. 22, Mandarakas approached the woman outside Daybreak Salon & Spa in Woodhaven, the complaint alleges.
The woman did not understand how Mandarakas could have known she was at the salon since they had not talked for almost two months.
“Mandarakas wedged his body in between the driver’s door so that (she) could not shut her driver’s (door),” the FBI agent wrote. “Mandarakas attempted to hug and kiss (her). (The woman) asked Mandarakas to leave her alone multiple times.
“Mandarakas then pulled out a diamond ring and began to propose to (her),” the agent added.
The woman managed to drive away.
Later that night, the woman was with friends at RiverTown Tavern in Trenton when she spotted Mandarakas standing near the rear exit, the FBI agent wrote.
She told Mandarakas to leave. Her friends confronted him, and Mandarakas left but sent a stream of texts to the woman, writing that “he would not stop until he had her back, and that he was going to marry her,” according to the affidavit.
Earlier this month, Mandarakas started mailing the woman gifts, including a laptop, old clothes and a Christmas card, the agent wrote.
On Dec. 23, she received a card from Mandarakas postmarked from Trenton. Later that night, she missed a phone call from a former roommate of Mandarakas, a man identified in the court filing as “B.V.”
“B.V.” later told investigators that he spoke monthly with Mandarakas and that he had started to make odd comments this fall.
Mandarakas repeatedly mentioned a podcast about a man who kidnapped his girlfriend and took her to Mexico where “it all worked out in the end,” the agent wrote.
“B.V. told Mandarakas not to do anything foolish or he would go to jail, and Mandarakas stated that all things were on the table and that he did not care if he went to jail,” the agent wrote. “Also, Mandarakas said if he could not be with AV-1, no one can.”
The conversations took a darker turn Dec. 22, according to the FBI.
That day, Mandarakas told “B.V.” he was watching the ex-girlfriend’s home and following her vehicle, the FBI agent wrote.
On Christmas Eve, “B.V.” contacted the woman and said he was concerned Mandarakas was going to hurt or kidnap her and take her to Mexico, the FBI agent wrote.
Later that day, the woman called a relative who works as a private detective. The relative suggested she search her car for a tracking device.
The FBI says this tracking device was hidden underneath the woman’s vehicle.
“When (her) vehicle was searched, they located on the inside driver’s side bumper a white tracking tile (taped) to the vehicle with white tape, ostensibly to mask its appearance against the white plastic of the bumper,” the FBI agent wrote.
The discovery prompted the woman’s family to participate in a plan to lure Mandarakas.
On Christmas Day, the woman and relatives drove her vehicle with the tracking tile to St. Joseph’s Church in Trenton.
They waited nearby and watched the woman’s vehicle.
“A short while later, Mandarakas was observed arriving at the parking lot and circled AV-1’s vehicle,” the FBI agent wrote.
He was driving a black Kia rental car.
Mandarakas spent 20 minutes inside the church, went outside and spotted Trenton police officers, the FBI agent wrote. Mandarakas told investigators his ex-girlfriend attended the church.
Mandarakas was arrested for stalking, and Trenton police investigators searched the rental car.
Inside, investigators found a large amount of cash and Canadian currency, cellphones, a magnetic tracking device, a map of times and distance to sail from Florida to Cuba, and a map to sail from New Jersey to Morocco, according to the FBI.
The police officers also found a supply list that included water, food, antibiotics, a satellite phone and aliases. One alias was handwritten and appeared to list the name Josh Tulls.
That is nearly identical to the name of Mandarakas’ former supervisor at Notre Dame, Josh Tullis.
Tullis is referenced in a civil lawsuit Mandarakas filed against Notre Dame in federal court in May in New Jersey. The lawsuit alleges university officials violated the Family and Medical Leave Act and wrongfully terminated Mandarakas in May 2021.
Mandarakas alleges his managers, including Tullis, “exhibited extreme frustration with (his) need for FMLA leave, pressuring him to take only one week of leave because ‘(his) wife should be able to do it on her own,'” the lawsuit alleges.
“(Notre Dame’s) management, including but not limited to Tullis, then began to subject (Mandarakas) to increased hostility and animosity…,” the lawsuit adds.
University officials have denied the accusations and asked a federal judge to dismiss the case, which is pending in federal court.
In a brief text exchange Friday, Tullis said he was unaware of the apparent reference to him in the Mandarakas criminal case.
“I’m stunned and appalled at the allegations and I have no further comment,” Tullis wrote in a text to The Detroit News.
After finding the rental car, investigators located Mandarakas’ registered car in Woodhaven. Investigators searched the car Tuesday.
Inside, they found a firearm, ammunition, handcuffs, rope, a knife, a stun gun, field dressing kit and a tarp with a shipping tag addressed to Mandarakas, the FBI agent wrote.
“While the harm the defendant is alleged to have committed cannot be undone, all of the investigative efforts resulting in today’s court appearance is a first step towards justice,” Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Michigan, said in a statement.
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