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Norwich man pleads guilty to scamming $450k from women
BRIDGEPORT — A Norwich man has pleaded guilty to to fraud and tax offenses stemming from a scheme that defrauded women approached through their social media accounts, officials say.
In a release on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut said Dexter Enwerem, 36, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty in Bridgeport federal court for defrauding $450,000 out of people, most of whom were women.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Enwerem participated in a scheme to defraud individuals who were contacted through their Facebook and Instagram accounts between September 2019 and March 2021. As part of the scheme, it said, a co-conspirator of Enwerem would use a false identity and make false representations to approach and befriend victims through the social media platforms.
“As the relationship progressed, the co-conspirator would sometimes move the communication to Google Hangouts, an online platform that allows users to communicate by video call or direct chat message,” it said. “Eventually, the co-conspirator would request money from the victim based on various false representations of need.”
The U.S. attorney’s office said the victims would then send money by wire transfers, checks, money orders and cash. It said some of the money was wired into bank accounts that Enwerem controlled, while some was sent in packages to an address where Enwerem could receive them.
Through this scheme, the U.S. attorney’s office said Enwerem and his co-conspirators defrauded victims of approximately $450,000.
“Enwerem wired approximately $220,000 of these funds to bank accounts in Nigeria,” it said. “In response to bank officials who questioned the nature of these wire transfers, Enwerem falsely stated that the recipients were family members and that the funds were intended to take care of his grandmother, and for household expenses.”
The U.S. attorney’s office said Enwerem also failed to pay taxes on the income he obtained through the scam. It said he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and to one count of tax evasion, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
As part of his plea, the U.S. attorney’s office said Enwerem has agreed to pay restitution of $449,000 to his victims, and $127,000 in back taxes for the 2019 and 2020 tax years. It said Enwerem was arrested on related state charges on March 24, 2021, and is released on $200,000 bond pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
