A North Texas woman has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for her part in a romance scam.
According to federal prosecutors, 33-year-old Ijeoma Okoro of Aubrey was part of a group that used dating apps to target older clients, lured them into thinking they were in a long-term relationship, and then scammed them out of money, often tens of thousands of dollars.
According to evidence presented at trial, Ms. Okoro and other fraudsters assumed fake names and trolled dating sites like Match.com and Zoosk, searching for targets.
Once the fraudsters ingratiated themselves to their often divorced or widowed victims with promises of long-term commitment, the fraudsters concocted elaborate stories about why they needed financial assistance. A common story was that the fraudster had to travel overseas for work and was unable to access bank accounts.
Trusting victims sent thousands of dollars to bank accounts opened by the defendant and her coconspirators in the Northern District of Texas.
In addition to the ten-year prison sentence, Okoro has also been ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution.
To date, four other codefendants have also been convicted for their involvement in the scheme, including David Animashaun, sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; Oluwalobamise Michael Moses, sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; Emanuel Stanley Orji, sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and Frederick Orji, sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The remaining indicted codefendant, Chukwuemeka Orji, remains a fugitive.
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