A 77-year-old woman from Southern Arizona sent nearly $400,000 to an online boyfriend who turned out to be part of an international romance scam ring based in Nigeria, court records show.
A federal judge in Tucson recently sentenced one of the ring members, Onovughe Ighorhiohwunu, to 130 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering and ordered him to return a total of $1.3 million to 10 scam victims across the country.
Most of the victims “were elderly or older women” an FBI agent said in a written statement to the court.
U.S. District Court Judge Scott Rash also imposed a $25,000 fine on the defendant in his Aug. 16 ruling.
The 77-year-old victim, who lives in Sierra Vista about 90 miles southeast of Tucson, told authorities she became lonely in 2019 after her husband with dementia went to live in a care facility, and sought company by playing the online game Words with Friends.
Another player struck up a conversation and invited her to chat on an instant messaging app, then by text and email. The two began a “romantic, online relationship” and he started asking for money, ostensibly for medical care he needed to be able to visit her in person.
She ended up sending him more than $388,000 in less than a year, court records show.
“Internet-based scams like this one starkly illustrate both the greed of the perpetrators and the generosity of the elderly victims,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino of the District of Arizona said in a news release announcing the sentence.
Ighorhiohwunu, 47 and a resident of Georgia, has been behind bars since mid-2021 when he was arrested by Atlanta FBI agents and transferred to Tucson to await trial.
Court heard evidence he worked as a money mule for the Nigerian scammers, collecting funds from victims and transferring them overseas.
Collection: Read more from Star reporter Carol Ann Alaimo
2 Tucson vehicle repair shops accused by state of consumer fraudFor subscribers: The Arizona Attorney General's Office says two Midas service centers in Tucson charged hundreds of dollars for unnecessary vehicle repairs or work that wasn't performed.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Senate District 18 put a climate change activist on the November ballot.
For Star subscribers: Methyl methacrylate, which can cause severe skin reactions when used in acrylic nails, is illegal to have on the premises of a licensed nail salon in Arizona.
For Star subscribers: Many Tucson vacation rentals are run remotely by foreign and out-of-state business interests, and the city is powerless to limit their spread.
The owner of DSA Vacations says the pandemic has been tough on business and has pledged to make things right with most of the complainants.
Mary's Mission, which runs homes in Cochise County, endangered residents and repeatedly provided "false and misleading" information to state health inspectors, a judge said.
State investigators were trying to serve an arrest warrant on former car lot owner Patrick S. Egan when they learned he died in Utah last year.
James P. Sailer of Marana denied wrongdoing during a massage last year at a high-end health club.
Company official blames problems on technical glitches and lazy employees.
Health inspectors found 23 violations at Dream Builders, a facility for children with mental health problems that was threatened with closure last year. The home continues to operate under a settlement agreement.
The lawsuit seeks damages claiming false statements were made in news reports about the stalking of a Tucson Justice of the Peace.
About 650 Arizona residents lost a total of nearly $21 million to romance scams and similar confidence schemes last year.
For Star subscribers: Tenants say out-of-town buyers have forced them out of a midtown complex that used to have affordable rents for older residents on fixed incomes. Flipping senior apartments "may be legal, but it's certainly not moral," says housing advocate.
Rents at a west-side apartment complex are going up 77 percent. Tenants elsewhere in Tucson are afraid they may be next.
Fei Qin, 39, was sentenced on Jan. 12 to 1.5 years behind bars
Koreasa "Kory" Williams was sentenced Dec. 20 to 51 months behind bars and three years of supervised released as part of a plea deal in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
Black and Latino neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by consumer scams, a recent Federal Trade Commission study found.
The jury took less than two hours to find Tucson gastroenterologist Dr. Fadi Deeb at fault in the 2016 death of a woman in his care.
