A Westerville man has been sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for a $1.8 million fraud scheme.
Prince Oduro, 34, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 102 months in prison for wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering, announced Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Karen Wingerd, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); and Lesley Allison, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Pittsburgh Division.
As part of his sentence, Oduro will pay approximately $1.8 million in restitution.
According to court documents, Oduro was involved in multiple fraud and money laundering schemes for several years, including through his employment at JPMorgan Chase Bank in Columbus and via online romance scams.
In 2015, while Oduro worked for JPMorgan Chase Bank in Columbus, he stole a customer’s bank information before calling to gain access to the account and fraudulently opening a PayPal account. Oduro transferred a total of $12,500 of the customer’s money to the PayPal account before withdrawing it in cash for himself.
Victims sent money to individuals who they believed needed a medical operation, had been an American soldier in Afghanistan, were building roads in Dubai, had access to gold or silver, or other schemes. Oduro then laundered the fraudulent proceeds.
Oduro was arrested in February 2022 and pleaded guilty in January 2023. He continued his romance fraud after being arrested and even after pleading guilty, causing an additional $709,500 in loss.
Oduro was initially released from custody after being arrested, but he continued to defraud a victim of romance fraud. Before his arrest, he had caused approximately $1.1 million in loss.
Related Federal Cases
- Christopher Furman, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Pennsylvania 2009 · California
- Nicole Pennington, COVID Loan Wire Fraud, California 2023 · Kentucky
- Sark Wire Corporation, PPP Fraud, Albany NY, 2023 · New York
- Sark Wire Corporation, PPP Loan Fraud, Albany NY, 2020 · New York
- Mark Thompson, Wire Fraud and Conspiracy, New York NY, 2023 · New York
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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