Couple's wedding cancelled over alleged internet fraud
The much-anticipated wedding ceremony between Nigerian man Darlington Akporugo and his fiancée, Jasmin Sood, has been abruptly called off following their arrest over alleged involvement in a $3.123 million fraud scheme in the United States.
The Fulshear, Texas, pair was scheduled to get married in Houston, Texas, on May 25th. Their ambitions, however, were thwarted when they were arrested by the police in April on suspicion of scamming over a dozen senior citizens in the United States.
The US Department of Homeland Security claims that 46-year-old Akporugo and 35-year-old Sood are accused of plotting to deceive elderly victims into thinking they were in love relationships with Akporugo over the internet.
According to the indictment, the pair utilized false identities between roughly 2015 and 2022 to target elderly people who were vulnerable—many of them widowed—through social networking and online dating services. They supposedly used phone calls, texts, and emails to get the trust of the victims.
Subsequently, it is said that the con artists tricked the victims into sending substantial amounts of money to other bank accounts and addresses under the control of Sood and Akporugo. It has been alleged that the scheme defrauded roughly $3,123,073 from at least 13 victims.
According to the indictment, Akporugo and Sood personally sought a victim in the Houston region in one case and went with her to banks so she could transfer money to the fraudulent network. They are said to have convinced the victim to hand over control of her banking access devices to Akporugo.
Additional allegations of fraud and aggravated identity theft in relation to an access device are brought against Akporugo. Both people may spend up to 30 years in jail if found guilty of each conspiracy and wire fraud offense. Additional fines are also imposed on Akporugo for identity theft and fraudulent use of access devices.
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