Two individuals have been sentenced to federal prison for running a multimillion-dollar fraud operation that targeted elderly and vulnerable Americans through romance scams and financial deceit.

The sentencing follows a lengthy investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston, which tracked the fraudulent activity across several states.

Darlington Akporugo, a 47-year-old Nigerian national in the United States illegally, received a 188-month prison sentence. His wife, 37-year-old Houston resident Jasmin Sood, was sentenced to 121 months. Both were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Sood entered her guilty plea on December 17, 2024, while Akporugo pled guilty on February 28 of this year. They were sentenced on June 24.

According to court records, the couple must also serve three years of supervised release and pay full restitution of $3,123,073.

At sentencing, the court heard victim testimony describing how Akporugo and Sood manipulated individuals into sending them money under false pretenses. One victim recounted being convinced to buy a luxury car and rent a mansion — both of which were later used by the defendants. Law enforcement arrested the couple while they were driving the car and living in the rented property.

Describing the scheme as calculated and exploitative, the court noted that many of the victims were elderly women, including several widows.

Akporugo admitted to running the scheme from Houston, targeting victims in multiple states including Illinois and Kentucky. He and his accomplices built fake relationships online, using social media platforms like Facebook to build trust before requesting large sums of money.

Sood assisted in the laundering process by establishing fraudulent companies and opening accounts under false identities. She also used disguises to make bank deposits, according to investigators.

In total, authorities identified more than 25 victims linked to the operation, which resulted in losses exceeding $3 million.

“Romance scams and other financial schemes like this exploit our nation’s elderly and vulnerable populations out of their hard-earned retirement savings and other critical funding that they need to survive,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz.

“Thanks to the courage of the victims in this case who came forward quickly to report it to law enforcement, we were able to successfully track down the two criminals responsible and hold them accountable before they could take advantage of additional victims.”