A New Jersey man was among four people arrested Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to launder millions of dollars taken from victims who fell prey to romance scams, authorities said.
William Kwabena Goeh, 47, of Somerset, is charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
Goeh opened or maintained business bank accounts for the purpose of “laundering the proceeds of internet-enabled romance scams,” authorities said in charging documents.
Several victims throughout the United States, many of them older people, fell victim to the scams after meeting online with people they thought were interested in a romantic relationship, Sellinger said in a statement.
Goeh obtained at least $530,000 through the scheme, withdrew some of the money from the business bank accounts and wired cash to overseas accounts in China and the United Arab Emirates, court documents allege.
Court documents state Goeh went by the name Terry Soller on an online dating website and convinced a victim who lived in Florida and Ohio to send $400,000 to various bank accounts.
When the victim said she did not have the money, Goeh responded with “emotionally charged rhetoric,” authorities said.
“I feel like killing myself to escape this pain and it’ll be on you,” Goeh said, according to court documents. “Trust me that’ll be the beginning of both of our reputations getting ruined, most especially yours.”
Goeh later convinced the victim to send tens of thousands dollars to his accounts in the next few months, the charging documents state.
Another victim, who lived in Ohio, sent more than $113,000 to a love interest the victim knew online as “Hibert Brown,” according to court documents.
Goeh withdrew some of that money and wired it to a jewelry company’s account in a commercial bank in China, court documents state.
A third victim living in Nevada believed he was dating a woman named Sandra Lisagoh, who claimed her father had left her 25 gold bars and that she needed $60,000 cash to cut through red tape and collect her inheritance.
The Nevada victim wired $10,780 to a bank account and thought he was sending the money to a lawyer in London who would help Lisagoh have her gold bars transferred to the United States, court documents state.
After a year of communicating with the Nevada victim, the woman who identified herself as Lisagoh told the man that she was actually a pornographic actress named Tanya Tate and she provided him with an address in New Mexico where she said she lived.
The victim traveled to the New Mexico address twice “but the woman with whom he thought he had been communicating did not reside at the provided address,” charging documents state.
Sellinger said that Nana Yaw Marfo, 37, of Virginia, and Shannon Braxton, 45, and Chevon Braxton, 42, both of Maryland, are each charged by complaint with one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Marfo and the Braxtons are accused in charging documents of participating in schemes that defrauded some of the same victims and others of large amounts of money that was sent to overseas bank accounts, court documents allege.
“Goeh received at least $530,000; Marfo received at least $4.7 million; Shannon Braxton received at least $500,000; and Chevon Braxton received at least $1.3 million,” Sellinger alleged in his statement.
“The Braxtons withdrew a large portion of the fraud proceeds as cash, while Goeh and Marfo wired thousands of dollars overseas, including to accounts in China, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Singapore, and Mauritius,” Sellinger alleged.
Goeh was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond and is scheduled to appear in court at a later date. Marfo was held pending an appearance in a Virginia federal court. The Braxtons were held pending a hearing in Maryland and later in New Jersey, Sellinger said..
If convicted of the money laundering conspiracy charge, the suspects each face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the funds involved in the transfer, whichever is greater.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
