Photo: Franklin County Sheriff's Office
A federal jury recently found an Ohio man guilty for his involvement in a romance scammer ring, according to NBC 4.
Seth Nyamekye, a 39-year-old man from Canal Winchester, scammed from victims on dating websites out of over $1 million, according to the U.S. Attorney General's office. He was convicted of 35 counts of money laundering for acting as a middle man for the scammer ring.
According to the U.S. Attorney General's office, the scammer ring would use several fake accounts on dating websites from at least June 2016 to February 2018 to connect with men and women around the country. They would get them romantically attached, sometimes posing as members of the military, before convincing them to send money under the guise of investments or help.
The money was sent to different bank accounts of the fraudsters' choice, according to the U.S. Attorney General's office. Nyamekey managed one of the bank accounts under the name Gloseth Ventures LLC and received money — totaling a whopping $1.3 million — from at least eight victims. He would take a cut of the cash before wiring it to other members of the scammer ring.
One scammer convinced a woman that she was engaged to their fake profile and convinced her to send $50,000 to Nyamekye's account. Another scammer posed as a soldier and convinced someone to wire $170,000 to Nyamekye's account.
Nyamekey faces up to 20 years in prison on 18 of the money laundering accounts, and 10 years each on the other 17 counts.