Jimisayo Opanuga
A Nigerian man’s wedding to his fiancée, set for May 25 in Houston, United States, has been called off after their arrest on charges of defrauding at least 13 elderly Americans in an online romance scam.
Darlington Akporugo, 46, and his fiancée, Jasmin Sood, 35, were apprehended in April by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their alleged involvement in a $3.123 million romance scam.
Between 2015 and 2022, the couple is accused of targeting widowed seniors on social media and dating platforms, communicating with victims using email, text messages, and telephone to gain their trust.
Akporugo and Sood allegedly used fictitious personas to seek out and contact elderly victims online, many of whom were widowed and believed they were in romantic online relationships. The victims sent millions to a fraud network.
The couple would convince their victims to transfer large sums of money to various fraudster-controlled or influenced mailing addresses and bank accounts, according to the allegations.
After establishing trust with the victims online, Akporugo and Sood approached at least one victim in the Houston area in person, according to the allegations.
They then allegedly drove the victim to banks to transfer funds to the fraudster network, persuading her to give Akporugo access to her banking devices.
The indictment also accuses Akporugo of aggravated identity theft and fraud in relation to an access device and includes a notice of forfeiture for all illegally derived proceeds from the fraud scheme.
If convicted, the duo could face up to 30 years of imprisonment for each of the wire fraud counts and conspiracy.
Akporugo could face an additional 10 years for fraud in connection with an access device and another mandatory two years if convicted of aggravated identity theft, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas.
