A Massachusetts man convicted of serving to steal thousands and thousands of {dollars} from tons of of individuals in on-line romance scams, usually regaling the victims with tales of oil rig explosions and overseas jails, has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in jail.
Kofi Osei, 30, and his alleged accomplices from 2016 to 2020 focused largely older folks searching for companionship by creating pretend on-line courting profiles, prosecutors mentioned in an announcement Tuesday.
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They steadily gained their victims’ belief earlier than directing them to switch cash to one in all dozens of financial institution accounts Osei opened utilizing pretend passports, aliases and phony enterprise names, federal prosecutors mentioned in an announcement. As soon as the cash was within the checking account, it was shortly withdrawn.
A few of the cash was used to purchase vehicles that had been despatched to Nigeria and bought, prosecutors mentioned.
The scheme obtained greater than $8 million in proceeds, $4 million of which went straight into accounts that Osei opened and managed, prosecutors mentioned.
Among the many victims was a Florida lady who despatched greater than $200,000 to accounts Osei managed after being informed that her on-line boyfriend wanted funds to safe his launch from custody following an explosion on his oil rig, in keeping with courtroom information.
One other sufferer from California despatched $65,000 to an account Osei managed after being informed the cash was wanted to assist staff injured in an accident on the abroad worksite of her on-line boyfriend and to launch him from jail, prosecutors mentioned. The lady was “left financially and emotionally devastated,” prosecutors mentioned.
Osei was arrested in February 2021 and pleaded responsible in September to creating a false assertion to a financial institution, wire fraud and cash laundering. He was additionally ordered to pay greater than $4 million in restitution and forfeiture.
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Federal prosecutors had requested for a nine-year sentence.
Osei grew up in poverty in Ghana and got here to the U.S. legally to pursue an expert soccer profession, his legal professional mentioned in courtroom paperwork. The protection sought leniency, saying Osei was remorseful and a loving father with no prior prison historical past who made “a poor and misguided decision.”
The Related Press contributed to this text.
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