A woman allegedly conned her online boyfriend out of more than one million dollars in 16 months so she could gamble more than 300 times at Oklahoma casinos while claiming that she needed the money for medical bills.
Lorraine Marie Rew, 46, from Fort Worth, Texas, met and befriended the New Palestine man on a social media website. They started chatting, and then started dating. But they weren’t really dating because they only met in person once, briefly in 2021. Their relationship was purely online, and over the telephone.
Lorraine Rew, from TexasPhoto byHancock County Police Dept
From October 2020 to February 2022, she allegedly duped him into transferring her almost $1.2 million by claiming she needed the money for her daughter’s urgent and expensive surgeries and medicines as well as heart medication for herself.
Using phony email accounts that pretended to represent her work, the 46-year-old apparently informed him that she could refund him later and asserted that she had to pay the fees up front. She claimed that her health insurance was going to reimburse her, and then she would pay him back after she received the money.
The man felt bad, and wanted to help Lorraine and her daughter. He shelled out $1.2 million over the span of 16 months for non existent medical care. He drained his checking, savings, IRA, mutual fund, and even went as far to take out cash advances and loans.
Left, David Tieman is pictured with Lorraine Rew, on the right, during their brief in-person meeting in 2021.Photo byNBC5
She was arrested in Texas on November 16, 2022, according to Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton. Officers have charged her with one count of corrupt business influence and 10 counts of counterfeiting.
Rew and her daughter did not have accounts with the hospital, and no evidence was discovered that she or her daughter used the funds to pay for medical costs.
Instead, Rew visited two casinos in Oklahoma, with 167 visits to the Durant casino over the course of two years, and over the course of six months, she visited the Thackerville casino 157 times. Prosecutors found evidence that all of the money went straight to the casinos.
Prosecutor Eaton said, “Sadly, this is a case in which the victim’s heart was in the right place and the alleged perpetrator took advantage of that.”
Lorraine is in the Tarrant County Jail in Texas but will be extradited to Hancock County in Indiana to face her charges.
What do you think about this? Speak your mind, and leave a comment!
credit:
https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/texas-woman-scams-indiana-man-out-of-1-2-million/
Casino Catfish Allegedly Swindled $1.2M to Fund Gambling Habit
