A couple tricked elderly and vulnerable victims on dating sites out of hundreds of thousands of pounds by creating fake profiles.
Ibrahim Moro, 33, and Rebecca Patrick, 32, convinced one victim in Australia to send cash for clothes and to cover the ‘release fees’ for a cache of gold in Ghana – scamming him out of £138,000. He died before justice could be done.
They also targeted others including a woman who believed she was in a romantic relationship with a man that didn’t exist, and another woman who thought she was speaking to a German widower living in Ascot.
But following a five-day trial, the pair – Moro, from Bromley, and Patrick, from Croydon – have been convicted and sentenced, with Moro going to jail and Patrick receiving a suspended prison term.
Croydon Crown Court heard that the elderly Australian who was targeted by the pair was so infatuated that he believed he was in a relationship with Patrick, sending her small amounts of money for winter clothes before she asked for more.
Ibrahim Moro is believed to have sent hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of fraudulently acquired cash to bank accounts in Ghana
Rebecca Patrick convinced an elderly Australian victim to send £138,000 in Australian dollars to cover the release fees of a reputed cache of gold in Ghana
She then claimed she was entitled to a 78kg holding of gold in Ghana, and asked for money to secure its ‘release’, for which he sent 250,000 Australian dollars, as well as a new phone and other amounts of cash over the course of one year.
Moro and Patrick received hundreds of thousands of pounds more from other victims which they laundered through their bank accounts.
Investigators at the National Crime Agency (NCA) recovered emails from one victim who believed they were in a romantic relationship with a man they met online – who didn’t actually exist.
By July 2016, she received a request for money and was later persuaded to send £18,000 after Moro and Patrick, posing as the fake lover, told her they were having problems with insurance.
Another victim was tricked into sending money to a man she thought was a German widower living in Ascot, buying gold, silver and diamonds for clients.
They started a friendship and although she never met him, she regarded him as ‘a close friend and confidant’.
In March 2016, she was told he was overseas and had bought some precious stones, but was unable to leave the country until he had paid taxes on them.
The victim was asked to pay the amount and was told: ‘If you don’t loan me the money, that means you don’t care about me’.
The victim said she felt under pressure and paid £2,500. The transfers were made to Patrick’s account with the full amount withdrawn in cash by the defendant days later.
Financial records also showed an American victim transferring more than £8,000 to Moro in April 2014. Moro transferred £5,500 out days later to two other accounts before withdrawing £1,400 in cash.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds taken from victims is also believed to have been sent straight to Moro’s bank accounts in Ghana.
The NCA was able to link Moro to the email account used to defraud the Australian victim and could also show the addresses Moro and Patrick provided to their victims were the same addresses they gave to their banking providers.
Both defendants denied the offences, with Moro claiming the money had gone into his account was from a clothing business he had set up in Ghana. Patrick claimed she had given Moro access to her accounts to send money to his family in Ghana.
But Moro, from Bromley, south east London, was convicted of five counts of possessing criminal property and one count of fraud.
Patrick, from Croydon, south London, was convicted of four counts of possessing criminal property and one count of fraud, after a five day trial at Croydon Crown Court in November.
Both were sentenced at the same court yesterday (23) – Moro to five-and-a-half years in prison and Patrick received an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
The judge also ordered all money recovered in the investigation to be returned to the victims.
NCA operations manager Paul Boniface said: ‘These defendants exploited the vulnerability of their victims, selling them a relationship story they desperately wanted to believe.
‘The Australian victim that Moro and Patrick so cruelly manipulated has sadly died before seeing these defendants sentenced.
‘Romance fraud affects victims not only financially but also emotionally – many victims find it too painful to contemplate they have been scammed by someone they thought they could trust.
‘Criminals may pretend to be a trusted person when they message but if something seems suspicious or unexpected, such as requests for money, listen to your doubts and do not send funds.’
