Darlington Akporugo arrested on wedding day
The renewed push by President Donald Trump to clean up America through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has tightened the noose on Nigeria’s Darlington Akporugo, a 47-year-old criminal from Nigeria who is awaiting sentencing.
Any window that he would be repatriated to Nigeria to face charges and possible jail has been shut by the new immigration policy of Trump.
Convicted and awaiting sentencing on June 6, this year, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Akporugo who was arrested on his wedding day has remained in custody in a case being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Carter after pleading guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud; and wire fraud, aiding and abetting.
Described as an illegal alien living in U.S, he pleaded guilty February 28 to multiple criminal charges related to his role in operating a romance scheme that defrauded more than $3 million from citizens nationwide, many of whom were elderly.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the multi-year investigation that led to the conviction.
“This individual and his co-conspirators preyed on the vulnerability of the elderly and recently widowed to defraud them of their hard-earned life savings,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz.
“Thanks to the victims who bravely came forward to report this matter to law enforcement and the outstanding relationships that we have with our domestic and law enforcement partners abroad; we were able to expose this reprehensible scheme and hold the criminals involved in it accountable.”
In his plea, Akporugo admitted to being a central figure in a long-running romance scheme based in Houston that victimized citizens from Chicago to Kentucky. Akporugo worked with others to lure victims through online romances and then induce them to send money to various bank accounts he controlled.
To further the fraud, Akporugo and his co-conspirators used fake names to contact victims on social media, gain their confidence and then persuade them to invest in non-existent businesses or provide funds for invented personal circumstances.
As part of his plea, Akporugo admitted to approaching potential victims, primarily on social media sites such as Facebook, and then directing them to send money to either his or his associates’ bank accounts. That money was often then directed overseas.
In addition to collecting cash and wire transfers, Akporugo also admitted to having victims open lines of credit in his name and, in one case, purchasing a luxury vehicle for his personal use.
During the investigation, authorities were able to identify more than 25 victims of the scheme, the majority were either retired or of advanced age.
