Federal prosecutors have charged 80 people in what they describe as a widespread online fraud conspiracy that took at least $6 million from businesses and elderly women, according to CNN and federal court documents. Many of the defendants are Nigerian nationals, and prosecutors say two men in Los Angeles helped oversee the operation.
One case described in a federal criminal complaint began in March 2016, when a man using the name Terry Garcia and posing as a US Army captain stationed in Syria struck up a relationship with a Japanese woman on a dating site for digital pen pals. She is identified in court documents only by her initials. The two communicated daily by email, and prosecutors say the man later began asking for money.
According to the complaint, he claimed to have found diamonds in Syria and needed help getting them out of the country. Other people involved then allegedly posed as a Red Cross diplomat and a shipping company employee and asked for more money, each time citing a new problem at customs. The woman told investigators she made 35 to 40 payments over 10 months, totaling about $200,000, to accounts in Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Prosecutors say the scheme was not limited to romance. They allege it also included business email fraud, where scammers hacked escrow company email systems, posed as employees and redirected payments to themselves. Investigators say the operation moved at least $6 million and attempted to steal an additional $40 million.
According to the indictment, the two Los Angeles men coordinated the receipt of victims’ money, providing bank and money service accounts and running a money laundering network. Prosecutors announced the charges on Thursday, August 22, 2019. CNN reported that 17 of the defendants have been arrested in the United States, and federal investigators are working to locate the others in Nigeria and other countries.
"We believe this is one of the largest cases of its kind in US history," US Attorney Nick Hanna said.
The defendants face charges that include conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to launder money and aggravated identity theft, and some face additional fraud and money laundering counts. The charges are allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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