Crime
American Woman, 81, Involved in $1.5m Fraud for Nigerian Lover Arrested
- 81-year-old American woman involved in $1.5m fraud for Nigerian lover awaits sentence
- The octogenarian engaged in fraudulent schemes such as receiving MoneyGram wire transfers from unknown senders, depositing defrauded funds into financial accounts she opened
EKO HOT BLOG reports that Glenda Seim, an 81-year-old US citizen, admitted to engaging in fraudulent actions on behalf of her Nigerian online partner in order to satisfy him.
Seim was charged with two counts of identity theft by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri in connection with her position as a “money mule” in many fraudulent activities on behalf of her online romantic interest.
A “money mule” is someone who accepts unlawfully acquired money and goods on behalf of a scammer and then passes the proceeds to the scammer.
The octogenarian engaged in fraudulent schemes such as receiving MoneyGram wire transfers from unknown senders, depositing defrauded funds into financial accounts she opened, allowing her online boyfriend to fraudulently transfer funds from various businesses’ financial accounts into her financial accounts, and accepting unemployment insurance benefit payments on behalf of unknown individuals despite warnings and threats by wire transfer.
In the indictment, the octogenarian in 2014 began an online relationship with an individual who claimed to be a United States citizen with business interests in Nigeria while the male lover asked for Seim’s assistance in paying fees, taxes, and penalties to the Nigerian government or his business associates claimed he could not leave Nigeria unless he paid those funds.
According to the court document, Seim began giving him money from her Social Security retirement benefits and pension, and then sold electronic equipment that he had others deliver to her and pass the cash to him.
According to the indictment, the octogenarian sought to execute fraudulent transactions ranging from $550,000 to $1,500,000 between June 2014 and February 2021.
United States District Court Judge Stephen Clark accepted Seim’s guilty plea on Tuesday and scheduled to pronounce the sentence on February 10, 2022.
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