Tragic Details Revealed In Alleged NJ Online Romance Fraud Scheme

NEW JERSEY – They posed as military service members and "wooed" 30 victims "with words of love." Then they stole their money and bragged about the cash on social media.

One victim ultimately took her own life.

It was perhaps one of the most brazen online schemes in recent New Jersey history, authorities say. But the details revealed in the complaint also show the elaborate planning that allegedly went on for several years and reeled in $2.1 million in stolen money.

And they also showed how this scheme that was bragged about on social media, authorities say, ultimately led to tragedy.

The scheme largely centered around Rubbin Sarpong, 35, of Millville, who is charged by the complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud against New Jersey residents and others whom he met through online dating sites, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Read more: NJ Man Participated In $2.1M Online Romance Scheme: Feds

The complaint also showed the manipulation that was used that ultimately tricked a woman into wiring more than $93,000.

Just after she was supposed to meet with one of the co-conspirators to provide money for a romance that was never going to happen, the woman was found dead.

Here are many of the brazen and, ultimately, tragic details revealed in the complaint:

• Sarpong worked with a group of residents from Ghana and engaged in an online romance scheme in which they tricked 30 people into wiring them a total of $2.1 million.
• Sarpong laundered the proceeds through various bank accounts in New Jersey and elsewhere to avoid detection and distribute proceeds from the scheme to co-conspirators in Ghana.
• The co-conspirators committed the scheme by setting up dating profiles on various dating websites using fictitious or stolen identities, as well as posing as United States military personnel who were stationed overseas.
• They contacted victims through the dating websites and then pretended to strike up a romantic relationship with them, "wooing them with words of love," the complaint said
• As part of their scheme, the co-conspirators also created numerous email accounts and phone numbers, which they used to communicate with victims.
• After establishing virtual romantic relationships with victims on the online dating platforms and via email, the co-conspirators asked for money from victims, often for the purported purpose of paying to ship gold bars to the United States.
• Although the stories varied, most often the co-conspirators claimed to be members of the United States military stationed in Syria who received, recovered or were awarded gold bars. The co-conspirators told many victims that their money would be returned once the gold bars were received in the United States.
• The co-conspirators used a myriad of email accounts they created to provide victims with instructions on where to wire money, including recipient names, addresses, financial institutions, and account numbers.
• Sarpong allegedly was one of several recipients in the United States who received victim funds. As instructed, victims wired money to bank accounts held by Sarpong and others at financial institutions in the United States.
• Occasionally, victims also mailed personal checks and/or cashier's checks to the co-conspirators and also transferred money to the co-conspirators via money transfer services, such as Western Union and MoneyGram.
• A review of financial records obtained in conjunction with the investigation revealed the fraudulently obtained funds were not used for the purposes claimed by the co-conspirators – that is, to transport non-existent gold bars to the United States. They were instead withdrawn in cash, wired to other domestic bank accounts, and wired to other co-conspirators in Ghana.
• Of the 30 victims identified to date, 27 victims sent approximately $823,386 directly to Sarpong, primarily by wiring money directly to bank accounts or by transferring money directly to the Millville man through money transmit services.
• In Facebook and Instagram accounts, Sarpong bragged about the money he was making by posting photographs of himself posing with large amounts of cash, as well as photographs of luxury vehicles and expensive designer clothing.
• On April 10, 2018, Sarpong posted a photo of himself on one of his Instagram accounts holding a stack of cash with the caption: "Too much blessed...Burger Money...10K OneTime...Overseas N... Getting this Bricks Off."

• Sarpong also posted other photographs, such as one that showed him sitting with a large stack of cash and the caption, "Wake Up With 100K."

• Another one showed him in a car with money and said "Bundle Up With The Bloody Money."

• On April 9, 2018, one victim wired $21,441.72 to a bank account controlled by Sarpong. On April 10, 2018, Sarpong withdrew $8,000 from the account.
• In addition to receiving victim money, a review of search warrant email records revealed that the co-conspirators instructed victims to send expensive electronic items.
• For example, the co-conspirators instructed one victim to mail a computer to someone they called their "secretary," promising that the computer would be delivered to a soldier in Syria.
• The victims revealed that the co-conspirators initially established contact with victims through various online dating websites, including "Plenty of Fish," "Ourtime.com" and "Match.com."
• The co-conspirators often fraudulently represented themselves to be United States service members stationed in Syria. On at least one occasion, the co-conspirators emailed the victim a copy of a fictitious military "Common Access Card" as proof of military status.
• On May 18, 2018, an individual purporting to go by a name "K.C." sent an email to one victim claiming that, as a United States service member stationed in Syria, his unit had recovered millions of dollars in gold bars and that he was awarded one of the boxes of gold valued at over $12 million dollars.
• During their communications, K.C. asked for victim's assistance in getting the gold to the United States and requested money to pay for the fees and taxes associated with shipping.
• K.C. told the victim that the funds would be returned to her once the gold was received in the United States. K.C. also told victim he was working with a diplomat named Alwin Rolf Lyss to help KC get the gold to the United States.
• The victim ultimately responded to one email and asked, "Can you please tell me who this person is?" Lyss responded he was not an American citizen and therefore used Sarpong's bank account when arranging deliveries for people.
• The victim then asked for Sarpong phone number. Lyss obliged.
• On May 27, 2018, Lyss emailed the victim to say he was flying from Syria to New York, then to Maryland the following day. Lyss attached a copy of a fictitious airway bill indicating that two trunks with "family treasure" were being shipped to the victim, that Lyss was the delivery agent, that the cost of the shipment was $4,850, and that the trunks would be sent from Syria, to New York, and then to Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Airport.
• Lyss also told the victim that she owed him additional money for the shipment.
• From approximately May 22, 2018 to June 12, 2018, at the direction of the co-conspirators, the victim 2 wired approximately $93,710 to two domestic bank accounts.
• Two days later, on June 14, 2018, the victim committed suicide.
• According to her daughter, on June 13, 2018, the victim stated she was going to BWI airport to meet Lyss. The following day, June 14, 2018, the victim was found dead.