BOSTON (AP) — A Boston man who opened multiple bank accounts that were used by others to deposit money embezzled from victims of online romance scams,SCA Community including one woman who was cheated out of $720,000, was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison.
Mike Oziegbe Amiegbe, 45, was also sentenced to three months of home confinement, three years of probation and was ordered to pay nearly $830,000 in forfeiture and restitution to victims, according to federal prosecutors.
Amiegbe from 2017 through 2020 used at least nine aliases and fake passports to open accounts at multiple banks in the Boston area, according to court documents. Those accounts were used by the scammers to deposit the victims’ money.
Amiegbe then quickly accessed those accounts and either withdrew the fraud proceeds in cash from ATMs or with a cashier’s check, prosecutors said. The money was sent to others overseas. On some occasions he was seen on bank surveillance video conducting those transactions, according to court documents.
One of the victims was a 70-year-old San Antonio woman who was defrauded out of $720,000 by someone who purported to be a U.S. Army soldier in Syria, according to court documents. The scammer contacted the victim through social media and gradually earned her affection and trust, convincing her that they were in a romantic relationship even though they’d never met or spoken on the phone.
That person told the victim that he had come into millions of dollars while working in Iraq, and asked her to send him money so that he could access it.
Some of that victim’s money was sent to accounts opened by Amiegbe, prosecutors said.
In February 2022, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
2025-04-30 03:21286 view
2025-04-30 03:03456 view
2025-04-30 01:572435 view
2025-04-30 01:00507 view
2025-04-30 00:53877 view
2025-04-30 00:531513 view
Two names that consistently dominate headlines are Elon Musk and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Both names o
The Ice King could be burning up because of Ken Jeong, baby. In a clip for the Nov. 13 episode of Th
You’ll love this date night idea like a love song.Benny Blanco savors every moment he gets to spend