A Georgia man was recently sentenced to 130 months in federal prison for conspiring to help others swindle money out of women in online “romance scams.”
TUCSON, Ariz. — Editor’s Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.
A Georgia man has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for his role in an international romance fraud scheme that involved swindling money out of users of the “Words with Friends” game, according to authorities in Arizona.
Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that 47-year-old Onovughe Ighorhiohwunu, of Kennesaw, received a 130-month prison term last week for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Ighorhiohwunu was previously convicted by a federal jury of conspiring to launder more than $1.3 million in proceeds obtained from victims of the internet fraud.
Prosecutors said that between July 2019 and May 2020, Ighorhiohwunu participated in a scheme where conspirators with connections to Nigeria used fictitious or assumed online identities to meet victims in the U.S. and get money from them.
Court records show the first victim in the case was a 77-year-old woman in southern Arizona who lost more than $100,000 in the romance scam.
The Arizona woman…
