Dating scammer Rubbin Sarpong pled guilty in Camden federal court, admitting to charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud, conspiring to commit money laundering and tax evasion.
Sarpong had used dating sites to build relationships with women and claimed to be from US military personnel stationed overseas.
Together with accomplices who lived in Ghana, Sarpong had created false profiles on a number of dating websites including Plenty of Fish and Match.com
Sarpong contacted his victims via the websites and built trusting relationships online. He pretended to be interested in them romantically before asking for money in order to assist in “shipping gold bars to the United States” authorities said.
The tales told to the victims varied but usually involved a web of lies related to the gold bars being awarded to the personnel which had to be shipped to the US.
The victims were asked for money which would be returned to them at a later date.
The co-conspirators would pose as fictitious people who were arranging for the shipment of the bars.
A variety of email accounts and internet services were utilised to carry out the scam and investigators found at least 40 victims had wired money to Sarpong through 13 bank accounts which he held in various names.
Sarpong, a permanent resident of the US, used the funds to buy property in Ghana and shared photos on social media of large amounts of cash and luxury vehicles.
He had received around $1.14 million from his efforts over 2 years and paid no tax on the money.
The fact that so many fell prey to the swindle is testament to Sarpong’s dedication to abusing the trust of his victims. The operation was meticulously organised and whilst Sarpong has agreed to pay back the money, the pain caused to those who fell for his trick is not to be underestimated.
This isn't, of course, the first time that Match Group has been mentioned in a courtroom drama.
It’s not so long ago that Sean Rad was embroiled in a drama related to the corporation which involved Whitney Wolfe Herd and Justin Mateen and the gender based abuse which Wolfe Herd was subjected to.
The three were at the time, shining lights at Tinder – Wolfe Herd was leading the marketing there whilst Rad was the bright, young CEO who could do no wrong.
Until a romantic entanglement between Wolfe Herd and Mateen went wrong that is.
Mateen turned nasty when the relationship ended and subjected Wolfe Herd to a barrage of nasty and threatening text messages.
Rad did nothing to support Wolfe Herd and indeed, called her “dramatic”.
The case she brought was settled out of court but Rad went on to commit many more public acts of embarrassment including this interview.
The moral of the story is watch out who you’re dating because they might not be who you think they are.
