Friday, December 5, 2025 - Two Nigerian men and a Sudanese woman were sentenced for their roles in a romance scam that targeted victims in the United States and resulted in the d3ath of an elderly victim.
Salma Abdalkareem, 29 of Piscataway, New Jersey, Chinagorom
Onwumere, 36, of Piscataway, New Jersey, and Stephen O. Anagor, 37, of
Lakewood, Washington, were sentenced on December 2, 2025 by the Honorable
Clifton L. Corker, United States District Judge, in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville.
According to the press statement issued by the Department of
Justice on Wednesday, December 3, Judge Corker sentenced Abdalkareem to 51
months, Onwumere to 84 months, and Anagor to 108 months.
Following their imprisonment, Onwumere and Anagor will be on
supervised release for five years, Abdalkareem will be on supervised release
for three years, and all will be required to repay the victims $388,500 in
restitution.
The 74-year-old victim, who lived in Jonesborough, Tenn.,
was made to believe he was in a romantic relationship with a celebrity and
was scammed into paying fines from a fake s3xual harassment suit.
The man paid the couple $87,500 in gift cards and checks,
after Onwumere and Abdalkareem allegedly threatened him and his family over
email. He committed su!cide after the extortion.
As part of written plea agreements filed with the court,
Abdalkareem pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, one count of aiding and abetting money
laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), and one count of
aiding and abetting money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a).
Onwumere pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit
wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, one count of aiding and abetting
aggravated stalking resulting in death in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2)(B),
one count of aiding and abetting money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
1956(a)(1)(B)(i), and one count of aiding and abetting money laundering in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a).
Abdalkareem pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to
commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, one count of aiding and
abetting money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), and one
count of aiding and abetting money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
1957(a).
Anagor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit
wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, one count of aiding and abetting
aggravated stalking resulting in death in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2)(B),
and one count of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 1028A.
According to filed court documents, Anagor and Onwumere
(both from Nigeria) met during military training in South Carolina in June
2023.
Anagor recruited Onwumere and Onwumere’s wife, Abdalkareem
(a citizen of Sudan), to assist a relative in Nigeria in carrying out romance
scams perpetrated on victims around the United States.
Under the scam, the relatives in Nigeria would impersonate
famous celebrities and con victims, usually elderly adults targeted online,
into believing they were in a romantic relationship with famous
celebrities.
Members of the conspiracy would then engage in various
devices to obtain money from the victims, such as the need for help with taxes
on luxury vehicles, background investigation fees needed for employment,
membership fees that would permit unique access to the celebrities, etc.
On multiple occasions, victims were told that the scammers
were with federal law enforcement and had to pay fees and fines to halt
investigations initiated by the celebrities or their management.
As part of this law enforcement scam, the conspirators would
impersonate high ranking officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and the Department of Justice, including the former Director of the FBI
and the former Attorney General of the United States.
Once a victim agreed to provide funds, members of the
conspiracy in Nigeria would then direct them to provide money to other members
of the conspiracy in the United States, such as Anagor, Abdalkareem, and
Onwumere. They would deposit checks, keep a share of the proceeds, and
then transfer funds to others in Nigeria or the United States.
"One of the victims was a retired teacher from
Jonesborough, Tennessee. He believed he was speaking with a well-known
celebrity, and they had begun a romantic relationship," the statement
read.
Eventually, members of the conspiracy posed as the former
Director of the FBI and former Attorney General of the United States and
advised the victim that the celebrity’s management had filed a complaint, and
he was under investigation.
Through a series of harassing emails, the scammers advised
that he had to pay exorbitant fees and fines to make the investigation go away
and seal it from the public.
Following these instructions, the victim then sent five
checks totaling $86,900 to Onwumere and Abdalkareem. These funds represented
the victim’s entire life savings (and included the proceeds of a loan the
victim took out on his truck to have enough for the final payment).
After sending his life savings, the scammers then advised
the victim that he was responsible for medical bills because the stress he had
caused the actress had resulted in her hospitalization.
In his last known text messages, the victim—believing he was
speaking with the celebrity—advised that he had no more money and was
going to end his life. On October 23, 2023, the victim committed suicide
by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.
The same scheme targeted multiple victims around the United
States and used the identities of at least four celebrities, the former
Director of the FBI, and the former Attorney General of the United States.
U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern
District of Tennessee and Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins, acting
Special Agent in Charge, Colin Jackson, HSI (Homeland Security Investigations),
and Special Agent in Charge Paul DelleDonne, Department of the Army Criminal
Investigation Division, Cyber Field Office made the announcement.
The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation
led by HSI, Army CID, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant United States Attorney Mac D. Heavener III
represented the United States.
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