Norwich Man Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Victims On Social Media: Feds

NORWICH, CT — A Norwich man has pleaded guilty to fraud and tax crime charges stemming from a scheme that defrauded women approached through their social media account, according to federal prosecutors.

Dexter Enwerem, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. He faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, between September 2019 and March 2021, Enwerem participated in a scheme to defraud people, primarily women, through contacting them on Facebook and Instagram accounts.

A co-conspirator of Enwerem would use a false identity and make false representations to approach and befriend victims through the social media platforms. As the relationship progressed, the co-conspirator would sometimes move the communication to Google Hangouts, an online platform that allows users to communicate by video call or direct chat message.

The co-conspirator would eventually request money from the victim based on various false representations of need, according to prosecutors. The victims would then send money by wire transfers, checks, money orders, and cash.

Some of the money was wired into bank accounts that Enwerem controlled, and some was sent in packages to an address where Enwerem could receive them, prosecutors claim.

Enwerem and his co-conspirators defrauded victims of approximately $450,000. Enwerem wired approximately $220,000 of these funds to bank accounts in Nigeria.

In response to bank officials who questioned these wire transfers, Enwerem falsely stated that the recipients were family members and that the funds were intended to take care of his grandmother, and for household expenses.

Enwerem also failed to pay taxes on the income he fraudulently obtained, according to prosecutors.

As part of his plea, Enwerem has agreed to pay restitution of $449,189 to his victims, and $127,299 in back taxes for the 2019 and 2020 tax years.