Man who helped con Ky. woman of $757,000 in romance scam sentenced to prison
A man convicted of taking part in a scheme to fleece a Central Kentucky woman of $757,000 with promises of romance and riches has been sentenced to six years in federal prison.
The judge also ordered Baaki Abdul Majeed, of Tacoma, Wash., to pay $757,000 in restitution.
Majeed was charged with two others, Thomas D. Inkoom, of Newark, N.J., and Kahad A. Wuupini, of the Seattle area.
Wuupini and Inkoom are natives of Ghana with permanent resident status in the U.S., while Majeed is a U.S. citizen, according to court records.
The con in the case involved impersonating a man named James Nehmer and reaching out to the victim through Facebook.
Nehmer led the woman to believe they were in a relationship and convinced her to send cash or checks for an investment in gold and silver that was fake.
The woman sent $757,000 in a little over four months in 2017.
The FBI determined in a related case that the photo of Nehmer used in the scam was of a U.S. Army sergeant whose name and photo had been used in several other online romance schemes.
Online romance scams have escalated in recent years, often targeting older women. The FBI advises against sending money to anyone you haven’t met.
The FBI arrested a man who came to Nicholasville in 2017 to pick up more money from the victim, but prosecutors dropped the charge after figuring out he’d been coerced into taking part.
Wuupini and Inkoon pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering, admitting they used their business accounts to take in money from the victim and then sent checks to others in the U.S. and Ghana, according to court records.
Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Wuupini to six years and seven months and ordered him to pay restitution of $757,000. He is responsible for the restitution with Majeed.
Reeves sentenced Inkoom to one year and seven months in prison and $100,000 in restitution.
Majeed claimed at his trial last year in Lexington that he didn’t know the money he handled had come from the victim of a fraud, but jurors rejected that and convicted him of charges that included wire fraud and money laundering, according to a court document.
Majeed plans to appeal, according to the court document.
Reeves sentenced Majeed Friday.
