Donations to ‘African orphanage’ were really going to a New York woman, officials say

As part of a yearslong scheme, nearly $200,000 were raised for an orphanage in Africa that didn’t exist. Now, a New York woman accused of siphoning the money to scammers has been sentenced.

The woman, a 57-year-old resident of Corfu, a small village in New York, became involved in the racket nearly a decade ago, according to a Jan. 23 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

An attorney for the woman could not immediately be reached by McClatchy News.

She began chatting online in 2014 with an individual self-identified as “Eric Holder,” a name shared by then-Attorney General Eric Holder under President Barack Obama. The individual claimed to be seeking funds in order to build an orphanage in Africa, officials said.

Over the course of the next five years, the woman received payments from “numerous individuals ... who were allegedly contributing financially to the orphanage project,” officials said.

She is accused of depositing the collected funds into four bank accounts under her control before moving the money into foreign accounts.

Despite eventually learning the operation was criminal — or at least suspecting she was involved in fraud — she carried on depositing money from victims into her accounts, officials said. It’s not clear how much of the money, if any, was pocketed by the woman.

In total, an unknown number of victims lost $182,730.76.

The woman was charged with wire fraud in 2020 on accusations of “acting as a money mule for internet scammers, allegedly sending thousands of dollars to Africa,” according to WKBW.

On Jan. 23, she was sentenced to one year of probation and has been ordered to pay $162,853.59 in restitution.

In order to avoid charity fraud scams, the Federal Trade Commission recommends running checks using watchdog organizations such as BBB Wise Giving Alliance or Charity Navigator.

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