50 fraudulent accounts, $9.5 million, and a 25-year sentence
Elvis Eghosa Ogiekpolor, 46, of Norcross, Georgia, was sentenced in October 2022 to 25 years in federal prison for opening and directing others to open at least 50 fraudulent business bank accounts that received more than $9.5 million from romance scams and business email compromise fraud. Thirteen romance fraud victims testified at his trial; one described sending nearly $70,000 to a man she met on eHarmony. He moved the money on through dozens of accounts, including several overseas, before it reached the people who took it from victims in the first place.
- Year
- 2022
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $9.5 million
- Victims
- 13
- Schemes
- Money mule recruitment, Romance scams, Business email compromise
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-09
The facts, as recorded
- Elvis Eghosa Ogiekpolor, 46, of Norcross, Georgia, was convicted on 31 May 2022 after an eight-day trial on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 15 counts of substantive money laundering.
- He was sentenced in October 2022 to 25 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray, II.
- He opened and directed others to open at least 50 fraudulent business bank accounts, which received more than $9.5 million from romance scams and business email compromise schemes between roughly October 2018 and August 2020.
- Thirteen victims of romance fraud testified at his trial. One woman said she was convinced to send nearly $70,000 to a man she met on eHarmony.
- He laundered the proceeds through dozens of further accounts, including several overseas, before the money reached the fraudsters running the underlying scams.
- U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan: "Ogiekpolor and his co-conspirators were part of a broader international network of online fraudsters and money launderers."
- FBI Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley: "There is no way we can make the victims whole again, but we hope this sentence will give them solace."
Why this case matters
This is the “financial agent” side of the same schemes described on the romance and business email compromise pages, told from the other end. Somebody has to turn a wire transfer or a cashier’s cheque into cash a Nigeria-based fraud ring can actually use, and that somebody was Ogiekpolor.
Fifty accounts is not a mule, it is a laundering desk
Most money mule cases on this site involve one account and one person moving money they were told was legitimate. This is different in scale: Ogiekpolor opened and directed others to open at least 50 fraudulent business bank accounts, then routed the money through dozens of further accounts, including several overseas, before it reached the fraud ring behind it.
That structure — many accounts, none of them lasting long before a bank flags them — is precisely why recruitment never stops. A single mule account is a disposable part.
The victims behind the number
Thirteen romance fraud victims testified at the trial. One had sent nearly $70,000 to a man she met on eHarmony. Multiply that by the accounts, the business email compromise victims never named in the public record, and the $9.5 million total starts to make sense as a sum of individually devastating losses rather than an abstract figure.
The caveat
This is a concluded case: Ogiekpolor was convicted at trial and sentenced. The facts above are the court’s findings, not allegations.
Sources
- Georgia Man Who Laundered Millions From Romance Scams, Business Email Compromises, and Other Online Fraud Receives 25-Year Sentence. Chattanoogan.com, reproducing a US Department of Justice, Northern District of Georgia press release. Accessed 2026-09-09. Supports: The conviction and sentencing dates, the 25-year sentence, the $9.5 million total, the 50 fraudulent accounts, the eHarmony detail, and the quotes from Buchanan and Farley.
- Romance scammer from Georgia gets 25 years in prison for money laundering. NewsChannel 9 (WTVC). Accessed 2026-09-09. Supports: The October 2018 to August 2020 timeline, the 13 trial witnesses, the sentencing judge's name, and the dating-website recruitment method.