South Jersey Man Sentenced For Romance Scam That Netted More Than $1M

CAMDEN, NJ — A Cumberland County man was sentenced Tuesday for conspiring to commit wire and money laundering, and tax evasion in connection with a romance fraud scheme that defrauded residents of New Jersey and elsewhere, the U.S. Attorney General's office said.

Rubbin Sarpong, 38, of Millville, received 168 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $3.08 million to 36 victims, $387,923 to the IRS, $4,096 to
the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services and $6,903 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to authorities.

Sarpong and several conspirators set up profiles on various dating websites, using fictitious or stolen identities and asked their victims for money, frequently claiming it would be used for shipping gold bars to the United States, authorities said.

Many of the 40 identified victims — some of whom lived in New Jersey — who fell for the scheme were told their money would be returned once the gold bars were received in the U.S., authorities continued. In reality, the funds the victims sent were withdrawn in cash, wired to other domestic bank accounts and wired to other conspirators in Ghana, according to authorities.

"While engaged in this fraud, Sarpong purchased property in Ghana and posted photographs of himself on social media showing him with large amounts of cash, high-end cars, designer clothing and expensive jewelry," a press release stated. "Despite having received approximately $1.14 million in taxable income from the scheme during tax years 2016 through 2018, Sarpong filed no income tax returns and paid no income tax, resulting in a tax loss of $387,923."

Sarpong had previously pleaded guilty to charges related to those actions, authorities said.

Got a news tip? Story idea? Email janel.miller@patch.com. Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.