Man Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison Following Online Dating Scam
In an online dating fraud, a New Jersey man was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for allegedly assisting scammers in duping dozens of people into donating millions of dollars to other scammers posing as US military soldiers.
Rubbin Sarpong, 38, of Millville, New Jersey, was sentenced on Tuesday to pay over $3 million in compensation to 36 victims, as well as more than $385 thousand to the IRS.
According to investigators, between January 2016 and September 2019, Sarpong and several of his collaborators, some of whom live in Ghana, used bogus or stolen identities to create dating profiles on several dating platforms, posing as US military personnel stationed overseas.
They would then contact victims and appear to be in a love connection with them before requesting money, generally to pay for the shipping of gold bars to the United States.
According to federal officials, Sarpong and the other accomplices stole over $2.1 million from at least 40 victims.
According to prosecutors, Sarpong collected around $1.14 million in taxable income from the plan but failed to file tax returns and pay no income tax.
