The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A man from Nigeria is facing charges after allegedly targeting women on dating sites and scamming over $3 million by getting them to agree to give him money for family expenses.
According to reports, between December 2019 and December 2023, someone using online dating accounts with profiles containing the name “Giovanni,” began talking to women, most of whom were widowed or divorced. When chatting with the women, the user presented themselves as a male officer in the U.S. military who was currently on an overseas deployment.
The women, each led to believe they were in a relationship with the user, understood when they were told they could not meet in person since he said he was on an official military mission. The authorities reported that the account holder asked the women to give them money for various reasons. One woman was told he had to pay a $150,000 fine for telling her where he was stationed, and she agreed to foot part of the bill. She sold her home and utilized her deceased spouse’s retirement fund to get a loan, and the woman was ultimately bilked of $2.3 million before being notified that the person she believed was her boyfriend was killed in the line of duty. In two other cases, women were asked for financial help to pay for the man’s father’s funeral expenses.
The authorities opened an investigation and believed the suspect was a 40-year-old man from Nigeria. He was taken into custody after getting off a plane in Houston and is being held in a federal prison. He is facing charges of 14 counts of wire fraud, and if found guilty, he could face up to two decades in prison.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a theft offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.