Federal prosecutors say Hawaii women among victims of a romance scheme
St Louis, MISSOURI — Two men and a woman have been indicted in St. Louis, Mo. , for an alleged Romance scam, and some of the victims are from Hawaii.
The feds announced Saturday the group conned hundreds of thousands of dollars from women in the past year. They pretended to be high-ranking military officers deployed overseas and looking for love.
The suspects were identified as 41-year-old Ovuoke Frank Ofikoro, 27-year-old Bonmene Sibe, and 27-year-old Trenice Hassel.
Their alleged crimes took place around May 2019 until July 31, 2020. Women between 45 and 82 years old, from all over the country, wired money and valuables to P.O. boxes.
“These women believed they were doing what needed to be done to help UN diplomats assist their online romantic interest in returning to the U.S. from their overseas deployment as well as to ship portfolios containing jewelry, cash, gold and solver back to the US in order to secure their futures,” U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry said.
The total value of funds and goods transferred was estimated to be around $500,000, offiicals said. The feds added that money was then moved to Nigeria.
“If you meet someone online and the person asks you for money, question whether this could be a romance scam. There’s nothing romantic about being swindled out of your life’s savings,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn of the FBI St. Louis Division.