COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The last of seven defendants in the case of a conspiracy to launder money from online romance scams has been sentenced in federal court, the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio announced Monday.
Kwame Yeboah, 38, of Columbus will spend 18 months in prison after he and and six other conspirators who have also been convicted and sentenced had been found to have conspired to launder the proceeds from romance scams, though they did not conduct the scams themselves.
These scams involved individuals creating false profiles on dating sites, and after establishing relationships with victims, requesting money from them to be sent to accounts which were in part in the names of the defendants as well as their family members or companies. The co-conspirators would then conduct transactions to conceal the accounts, including cash withdrawals or funds transferred by wire.
In total, conspirators were found to have laundered more than $11.8 million in total. As part of their sentence, the defendants will pay that amount in total.
The full list of defendants in the case includes the following:
- Robert K. Asante, 39, of Canal Winchester- 60 months in prison
- Eric Ahiekpor, 52, of Lewis Center, 36 months in prison
- Edward Amankwah, 45, of Westerville, 48 months in prison
- Uriah Lamdul, 30, of Columbus, 24 months in prison
- Mohamed Toure, 28, of Columbus, 18 months in prison
- Alexis Wellington, 32, of Canal Winchester, Term of probation
- Kwame Yeboah, 38, of Columbus, 18 months in prison
Experts caution those using dating sites to be vigilant of false profiles, to never send money, and be cognizant of anyone who asks to communicate offline too quickly or does not want to meet in person.
You may report an online romance scam at ic3.gov.
