Three Sentenced In Nationwide Scheme Resulting In Death Of East TN Man
Earlier this week in US District Court in Greeneville, two people from New Jersey and one from Washington state were sentenced for their roles in a romance scam that targeted victims around the country. One of those victims committed suicide. 29 year old Salma Abdalkareem and 36 year old Chinagorom Onwumere, of Piscataway, New Jersey, along with 37 year old Stephen Anagor of Lakewood, Washington were part of a scam that defrauded numerous victims out of thousands of dollars.
The scam worked like this. The three worked with another person in Nigeria who would impersonate famous celebrities and con victims, usually elderly adults they found online, into believing the victims were in a romantic relationship with famous celebrities. The victims were led to believe that the celebrities needed monetary help with taxes on luxury vehicles, background investigation fees needed for employment, and membership fees that would permit unique access to the celebrities. On multiple occasions, victims were told that the scammers were with federal law enforcement and had to pay fees and fines to halt investigations initiated by the celebrities or their management.
One of the victims of this scam was a retired teacher from Jonesborough, Tennessee. This victim was led to believe he was in a relationship with a female celebrity. Then, the scammers began posing as US law enforcement including the FBI, saying that the celebrity’s management had filed a complaint against the victim and he was under investigation. The scammers convinced the man to send over $86,000 to them to make the investigation go away.
After sending his life savings, the scammers then advised the victim that he was responsible for medical bills because the stress he had caused the actress had resulted in her hospitalization. The victim, with no money left, committed suicide on October 23, 2023, by shooting himself in the head.
At their sentencing this week, Abdalkareem was sentenced to 51 months in prison; Onwumere got 84 months; and Anagor, 108 months. All will be required to repay the victims $388,500 in restitution.