An Orange County man admitted to making the most of ten folks in a large romance rip-off that noticed him steal upwards of $1.5 million.
Ze’Shawn Stanley Campbell, 35, of Irvine, pleaded responsible in federal court docket to 1 rely of wire fraud and one rely of cash laundering for the brazen scheme.
From April 2014 to April 2020, Campbell posed as a rich entrepreneur who claimed to have a number of profitable enterprise ventures.
In response to the USA Division of Justice, Campbell instructed his victims he was a millionaire who operated a number of companies, together with McDonald’s franchises, a safety firm and a sequence of gyms in Texas. He additionally instructed his victims he was a profitable actual property and cryptocurrency investor who served abroad in the USA Army.
He befriended a number of folks and commenced romantic relationships with some, the DOJ stated, and satisfied them to ship him cash and different gadgets to assist him pay excellent medical payments, or that he promised to take a position on their behalf.
In actuality, he used the cash to fund a lavish way of life, paying off his personal money owed and making big-ticket purchases, together with a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz that he leased beneath the title of one among his victims. One other sufferer was scammed out of greater than $60,000 that Campbell promised to spend money on Bitcoin, however was as a substitute used to make lease funds on the automobiles.
All instructed, he scammed no less than ten folks and 9 companies, the DOJ stated. He admitted to defrauding no less than $250,000 from the 19 victims, with some estimates going as excessive as $1.5 million.
As a part of his plea, Campbell faces a most sentence of 30 years in federal jail. He’s due again in court docket on Jan. 9, 2023 to listen to his sentence.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the Justice Division’s Main Frauds Part.
