HOUSTON – A 39-year-old man who lived in Richmond and Houston will serve five years in federal prison for his involvement in a romance scam.
Kenneth Anim pleaded guilty on April 27 and was sentenced this week. Anim holds dual citizenship in the United States and Ghana.
A romance scam is when criminals adopt fake online identities to gain a victim's affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a close relationship to induce the victim, under false pretenses, to send money to the scammer.
U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein ordered Anim to serve 60 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Anim will also pay $2.2 million in restitution.
While Anim did not know the victims personally, he allowed those who did to hide the stolen money by laundering it through shell companies that only existed on paper.
"Anim profited off the elderly and vulnerable. He knew victims were being defrauded but helped launder the money anyway by operating as an illegal money transmitter," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. "The sentence shows that we will not let money launderers for romance scammers try to hide behind the excuse that they didn't know details about where the money was coming from."
Anim admitted that from 2014 to 2019, he operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business to launder funds from wire fraud schemes, including internet fraud and romance scams.
As part of the plea, he acknowledged opening and maintaining bank accounts to collect proceeds from internet and romance fraud schemes. He then sent the money to himself and co-conspirators overseas.
"Kenneth Anim was a mule who, for years, knew that the millions of dollars he was depositing in numerous banks were stolen from victims through false promises," said Special Agent in Charge James Smith of the FBI. "Yet his greed was stronger than his principles, and he chose to continue to receive money from romance scam victims, most of them senior citizens."
FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Belinda Beek and Grace Murphy are prosecuting the case.