A New Jersey man admitted to running an online dating scam in which he created fake profiles pretending to be U.S. soldiers serving oversees and duped 40 women into sending him over $1 million over a two-year period.
Rubbin Sarpong, 37, of Millville, used the pilfered fortune to buy property in Ghana and often posted photos on social media showing wads of cash and newly purchased luxury cars, jewelry and designer clothes, according to court documents.
Sarpong pleaded guilty in Camden federal court to charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud, conspiring to commit money laundering and tax evasion, according to a press release from the U.S. District Court of New Jersey published on Wednesday.
He allegedly conspired with three other men living in Ghana to convince his victims to wire him money through several different New Jersey bank accounts.
Rubbin Sarpong, 37, of Millville, New Jersey, admitted to running a $1M online dating scam that duped 40 women over a two-year period. Above, he is posing with Gucci clothes, a bottle of Hennessey and a sports car
Sarpong created fake profiles pretending to be U.S. soldiers serving oversees. He posted numerous photos on Instagram with wads of cash he bilked from his victims
Sarpong used their money to buy property in Ghana, luxury cars, jewelry and designer clothes that he posted photos of on Instagram
He told each victim that he needed money to ship gold bars to the states and would pay them back once they were received. Little did they know that he withdrew the money in cash to support his lavish lifestyle
He and his conspirators told his victims that he was stationed in Syria and received, recovered or was awarded gold bars, but needed money to pay for their shipment to the United States. The crew told many of the victims that they would be paid back once the gold bars were received in the United States.
However, the gold bars never existed and Sarpong withdrew the money in cash before wiring it to domestic bank accounts and to other conspirators in Ghana.
At least 40 identified victims wired money to Sarpong and others in the United States, including to 13 bank accounts controlled by Sarpong, some of which were in the names of his friends, relatives, and a fictitious business entity, Rubbin Sarpong Autosales.
One of his victims took her own life shortly after Sarpong duped her with his scam, though he has not been charged with any criminality related to her death.
One of Sarpong's accomplices sent an email to a woman, whose identity was not released, in May 2018 and pretended to be a diplomat named Alwin Rolf Lyss, prosecutors said when Sarpong was first charged in September 2019.
The scammer told the victim his overseas unit had found millions in gold bars and that he was gifted with a box of them worth $12 million before asking the woman to send him money to help him get the gold to the U.S.
One of Sarpong's alleged victims sent his group $93,710 before killing herself two days later, though Sarpong has not been charged with any criminality related to her death
Sarpong showed off gold jewelry and a Rolex watch he says he purchased with his
