A Boston man has been sentenced in connection with an expansive online fraud scheme that targeted people in the U.S., including romance and advance fee schemes, according to a press release from acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy’s office.
Kelechi Collins Umeh, 40, of Boston and formerly Quincy, was sentenced Monday by the U.S. Senior District Judge William G. Young to 40 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Umeh was also ordered to pay restitution of $878,652. Back in January, Umeh pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud conspiracy.
Umeh participated in a series of online scams that included romance and advance fee schemes, meant to defraud victims into sending money to accounts that were controlled by him and his co-conspirators, the release said.
Romance scams, the DOJ said, happen when a criminal creates a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The scam then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and or steal from the victim.
Advance fee scams happen when a criminal asks a victim to pay a fee upfront, such as a fee, tax or commission, in order to obtain a bigger payout later, but that payout never occurs, said the release.
In this scenario, about 30 victims lost more than $1.3 million from the schemes.
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“Umeh used fake passports in the names of numerous aliases in order to open bank accounts in and around Boston to collect and launder the proceeds of the online scams,” the release said.
Umeh and his co-conspirators then quickly withdrew large amounts of cash from those accounts often within days of the deposit and generally structured in amounts of less than $10,000 as a way to avoid detection and currency transaction reporting requirements, the DOJ office said in its release.
