Zim woman guilty of laundering $1.2M through online romance schemes in the US

A Zimbabwe national has been found guilty of laundering over $1 million through romance fraud schemes in the US.

Sherlyn Sims, also known as “Sherlyn Dzinzi,” was found guilty after a five-day trial of conspiring to launder and laundering over $1.2 million from various romance fraud schemes and business email compromise methods.

The jury’s decision concluded that Sims funneled money from these computer-enabled crimes into bank accounts she controlled, and subsequently transferred, withdrew, and spent the funds.

“The fraud schemes that Sims perpetrated in this case have become an epidemic in this country,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Our vulnerable elderly population are often targeted in these crimes, resulting in significant financial loss and unimaginable emotional suffering. The jury’s verdict has ended Sims’s attempts to evade culpability for the role that she played in carrying out these schemes.”

FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley emphasized the broader impact of such crimes.

“This case serves as a reminder of the sophisticated methods employed by criminals and the need for vigilance in the digital age. The consequences of this type of fraud scheme are far-reaching, affecting not only people here in Georgia but also around the world,” Farley said.

Sims, along with her co-defendants, set up sham businesses including Grace Trading, LLC, which was registered in Georgia.

These businesses lacked legitimate earnings, physical premises, and did not pay wages to employees. Sims and her associates opened business bank accounts at institutions like J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and Bank of America, where fraud victims deposited their money. Two days after Grace Trading’s registration, approximately $200,000 was deposited into its accounts by fraud victims. Sims swiftly wired these funds to China and other countries, withdrew cash, and spent the remaining money.

Over seven months, more than $1.2 million from romance scams and business email compromise schemes flowed into these accounts. One notable scam involved a victim who sent an earnest money deposit for a new home to Grace Trading’s account. Even after banks closed these accounts, Sims reopened new ones in the sham businesses’ names and even secured a fraudulent COVID loan from the Small Business Administration.

Multiple victims testified at the trial, detailing how they were convinced they were in romantic relationships with men they met online, only to be defrauded. One victim sent nearly $100,000 to Sims’s account after being misled into believing her “boyfriend” was detained by customs and needed the money for release. Sims, 33, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, will be sentenced in November. Her co-defendant, Bright Eigbedion, 36, of Kearns, Utah, who pleaded guilty, will be sentenced later this month.

Presley Ihimekpen, 37, of Duluth, Georgia, was sentenced earlier to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution to the victims.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case.

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