A 40-year-old Glendale man has been sentenced to 17 months in prison for his role in online romance scams, authorities said.

Kingsley Sebastian Ibhadore was sentenced on May 5. He had pleaded to conspiring to commit structuring for his role in withdrawing more than $500,000 from bank accounts in amounts below federal reporting requirements to avoid detection by authorities, according to a release from the Arizona district of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Ibhadore served as a ‘money mule’ in a criminal scheme by transferring fraud proceeds, in relatively small amounts, between fictitious bank accounts to avoid federal reporting requirements and detection. Specifically, Ibhadore used 24 bank accounts under multiple aliases to conceal and distribute funds obtained through online romance scams that were initiated by other individuals,” the release stated.

Romance scams take place online where criminals impersonate individuals to gain trust and affection from their victims, ultimately with the goal of stealing money. The scammers often build fake online profiles, engage in elaborate deception and manipulate their victims to send them money under various pretexts, such as medical emergencies, travel expenses or investments.

Between July 2019 and March 2020, authorities said, Ibhadore deposited romance scam proceeds into accounts opened with false names and passports, then withdrew sums in amounts designed to avoid triggering financial institutions’ currency reporting requirements.

“Even after Ibhadore confirmed that the money he was depositing came from romance scams, he continued to withdraw large sums of cash in ways meant to evade federal reporting,” the release stated.

Surveillance footage also captured him conducting transactions using fraudulent identities at major banks across Arizona, officials said.

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