Fla. man arrested in online dating scam; woman, 61, gave "boyfriend" $437,800

State police have arrested a Florida man who they said scammed a 61-year-old Tolland County, CT, woman by engaging in a romantic, online relationship with her during which he lied about his identity and convinced her to send him $437,800 over two months. Kennard Terryll Banks, 32, of Boynton Beach, FL, was extradited Wednesday from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office and charged with first-degree larceny, money laundering and corrupt organizations and racketeering activity, state police said.

Troopers worked with the Secret Service on the investigation, which showed that the online romance was part of an elaborate operation that uses deceit to get money from unsuspecting women across the country – most between 50 and 70 years old. The illegal enterprise has ties to Nigeria, state police said.

The woman said she ‘met’ one of the men, who said his name was Teddy Banas, on an online dating site called OurTime the previous October. The woman never met him in person. Banas told her he worked as an engineer on submarine projects all over the world. The first request was for a wire transfer of $11,200 to pay for submarine parts for a project in Indonesia, the woman told police. He later asked for another $13,600 for the same project, according to the warrant.

Later in November he claimed he was being detained because of legal problems and he asked the woman to loan him “larger and larger amounts of money to pay lawyers, licenses and bribes that would help him resolve the problem,” the warrant said. He provided with her a copy of a cashier’s check for $1.45 million – which she now believes was fake -- as proof he’d repay her.

In all, she sent him seven wire transfers, state police said.

https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-tolland-county-online-dating-service-scam-arrest-20200731-fudiexrms5azpbvxp4ejujtbri-story.html