Phoenix man who laundered millions sentenced for role in romance scams
PHOENIX - A Phoenix man who laundered millions of dollars from romance scams is now behind bars.
Arizona man from Nigeria romance scammed $3M from 'preyed upon' women, feds say
An Arizona man from Nigeria is said to have scammed millions from women online who were looking for love. We confront him to hear his side of the story, but he refuses. We have what the Secret Service says he did.
What we know:
FOX 10 first investigated Kingsley Ibhadore back in 2023 after he was indicted on several federal charges for his involvement in a sophisticated scheme, opening 24 bank accounts and using various aliases.
Ibhadore is a U.S. resident and Nigerian citizen.
He pleaded guilty last May to a conspiracy charge, and on Monday, May 5, a judge sentenced him to 17 months in prison.
The backstory:
The U.S. Secret Service investigated him and says he received almost $3 million in a romance scheme.
"That’s a fairly substantial number," said Scott Windish, acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service in Phoenix, back in 2023.
Between 2018 and 2019, court documents say Ibhadore opened 24 bank accounts through Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo and BBVA Compass, using different aliases and fake passports. Some names he'd use – Barry Bhoye, Celestin Cheick, Simone Diakite and Celestin Emmanuel.
The indictment reveals romance scam victims sent Ibhadore checks payable to those names. Investigators say he deposited the checks – some amounts as much as $100,000 before withdrawing cash and transferring funds to accounts in Turkey and Nigeria.
Windish believed Ibhadore was part of a larger conspiracy.