Coon Rapids Man Sentenced To Prison In Massive Romance Fraud Scheme

COON RAPIDS, MN — A Coon Rapids man was sentenced to three years in prison and was ordered to pay after his conviction in connection with a romance fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced Friday.

Solomon Eghosa Wilfred, 43, will also serve three years of supervised release after his prison sentence is complete.

Wilfred pleaded guilty on June 15 to one count of mail fraud and was sentenced in federal court on Thursday.

From approximately June 2020 through March 2021, Wilfred and others knowingly and intentionally participated in and facilitated an online romance fraud scheme that targeted primarily elderly victims and lured them into sending money under false pretenses, investigators said.

The scheme relied on impersonating a real or plausible but fictitious person, such as a senior U.S. diplomat or military official, who contacted the victims through online social media applications, according to authorities.

Wilfred and other participants sought to forge a romantic connection with the victims and, when successful, asked the victims for money purportedly to assist the false persona with some problem or need, investigators said.

The scheme participants would even introduce the victims to a purported third-party intermediary who would corroborate the false persona’s story and assist in defrauding the victims, according to authorities.

The victims eventually were directed to send large sums of money by mail or other commercial means to a specified name and address, investigators said.

Wilfred's role in the scheme was primarily to assist with the collection and transfer of the fraudulently obtained funds, according to prosecutors. In total, Wilfred received over 400 packages from victims containing over $1.3 million in fraud proceeds during the scheme, authorities said.

Wilfred kept some of the proceeds for himself and disbursed the rest through the fraud network, according to authorities.

To prolong the scheme, Wilfred also directly communicated with some victims, including sending romantic cards containing trinkets, like wedding rings, according to investigators.

These actions "deepened the fictitious romantic connection and lured the victims into sending more money," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.