Three men who ‘preyed’ on KY woman, stole $750,000 in romance scheme, convicted
It’s sad when romance turns sour - maybe even sadder when it turns into a costly scam.
Three people have been convicted and two were sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Lexington for their role in scamming a woman online out of $757,000 and laundering the money in an international scheme.
“The scheme, using fraud and deceit, preyed upon the victim’s hopes and took advantage of her kindness, ultimately stealing over $750,000 of her money,” said U.S. Attorney Robert M. Duncan, Jr. in a news release. The release did not identify the victim but court documents say she was from Nicholasville.
A federal jury last week, after an hour of deliberations following a three-day trial, convicted Baaki Abdul Majeed, 34, of Tacoma, Wash., of wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and five counts of transactional money laundering.
According to testimony at trial, Majeed conspired with Kahad Al Wuupini, 35, of Auburn, Wash., and Thomas Inkoom, 42, of Newark, N.J., in a money laundering conspiracy. Wuupini and Inkoom are citizens of Ghana with permanent resident status in the U.S.
Evidence revealed that the conspirators agreed to aid in and launder $757,000 in funds, which were defrauded from a victim of an online romance fraud scheme.
After receiving cashier’s checks, personal checks, and cash from the victim, Majeed and his co-conspirators laundered the money from Washington and New Jersey, back to Ghana, by purchasing cars that were shipped to Ghana, obtaining cashier’s checks, and wiring funds to each other or other individuals in the United States and Ghana.
The indictment alleged that the woman was targeted through a social networking site. It said the men impersonated a man named James Nehmer to commit an “online romance scheme” against the woman, who believed she was in a relationship with Nehmer.
The woman was convinced to send money for an investment in gold and silver that didn’t really exist. The scammers had the victim put “Mercedes G” or “Condo” in the memo line of the check, but she didn’t buy a car or condo, the indictment said.
She sent a total of $757,000 between April 22, 2017, and Sept. 5, 2017 to the men charged in the case or to businesses they controlled, the indictment said. It listed checks as large as $95,000. The victim sent two checks for that amount the same day in May 2017 from two different bank accounts.
Majeed, Wuupini, and Inkoom were indicted in August 2019.
Wuupini and Inkoom pleaded guilty to the money laundering conspiracy in March 2020 and were sentenced Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves.
Wuupini was sentenced to 79 months in prison and Inkoom was sentenced to 19 months.
Under federal law, both must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 3 years, following their release. Wuupini was ordered to pay $757,000 and Inkoom was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.
Majeed is to be sentenced Jan. 29, 2021. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. However, the court must consider U.S. sentencing guidelines and federal sentencing statutes before imposing a sentence.
“Unfortunately, internet-based romance scams are becoming more and more prevalent.” said federal prosecutor Duncan.
“It is important for people to be cautious about sending money to someone they have only met online. If something seems too good to be true, it often is.”
Duncan commended “the hard work of FBI personnel and members of my office, to hold the defendants accountable for their crimes, and to bring a measure of justice to the victim.”
“Romance scammers use promises of love and romance to entice victims online often persuading them to send money, personal and financial information, and items of value to the perpetrator,” said James Robert Brown, Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI office in Louisville.
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
