A Millville man allegedly used online dating sites to defraud more than 30 victims out of $2.1 million, U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito announced Wednesday.
Rubbin Sarpong, 35, along with uncharged co-conspirators in Ghana set up profiles claiming to be U.S. service members stationed in Syria, even at least once sending a copy of a fake military Common Access Card as proof.
But Sarpong and his alleged cohorts were not looking for love on Plenty of Fish, Ourtime.com or Match.com, according to the federal complaint.
He is now charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His first appearance is set for Wednesday afternoon.
Of the 30 victims, 27 sent about $823,386 to Sarpong directly. He then transferred approximately $454,159 to co-conspirators and others in Ghana.
Sarpong bragged on Facebook and Instagram about his wealth, showing stacks of money, watches, designer clothes and lots of drinking and dining.
In an April 10, 2018, Instagram post, Sarpong is pictured holding a large stack of cash calling it “Burger Money… 10K OneTime…”
Records show that a day earlier, Victim 15 wired $21,441.72 to an account controlled by Sarpong. The next day, he took out $8,000 cash, which is believed to be the money pictured in the post.
A close-up of Sarpong holding a large stack of bills was posted May 2, 2017. Later that same day, he posted a meme saying, “Men are supposed to love and protect women, not to hurt and betray them.”
But betrayal is just what Sarpong and his co-conspirators were doing, according to the complaint.
“Unfortunately, we live in an era where every contact we have with a stranger online must be viewed through the lens of skepticism,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory W. Ehrie. “Fraudsters are constantly searching for ways to separate people from their money in order to reap a profit while putting forth little effort. The FBI eventually catches up with the bad guys but cannot guarantee any monetary recovery. Awareness remains the best form of prevention.”
The conspirators allegedly used a myriad email accounts and Voice Over Internet Protocol phone numbers to communicate with victims and instruct them on where to wire money, including recipient names, addresses, financial institutions and account numbers.
In addition to wiring money, victims occasionally mailed personal checks and/or cashier’s checks to the conspirators.
The funds were not used for the purposes claimed by the conspirators – that is, to transport non-existent gold bars to the United States – but were instead withdrawn in cash, wired to other domestic bank accounts and wired to other conspirators in Ghana.
It wasn’t just money.
Co-conspirator 3 instructed victims to send expensive electronic items, according to the complaint.
For example, Victim 12 was told to mail a computer to co-conspirator’s secretary, promising it would be delivered to a soldier in Syria.
Sarpong could face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.
