Three Chicago-area residents involved in moving more than $3.5 million for an overseas-based romance scam network were sentenced in recent weeks, including a former U.S. Postal Service employee who told CBS News she regretted getting sucked into the “dumb-ass scheme” by her then-boyfriend.
Jennifer Gosha, a former U.S. post office employee and Iraqi war veteran, was sentenced to three years probation, with the first six months on house arrest with limited movement, for her involvement in the fraud case out of Chicago.
One of the victims connected to the scams facilitated by the three defendants was 57-year-old Laura Kowal. For over a year, CBS News investigated the disappearance and death of Kowal, a widow and retired health care executive from Galena, Illinois.
Kowal became involved in a romance scam with a man she met through Match.com who called himself “Frank Borg.” What started as an online and telephone romance migrated into increasingly desperate requests for money. At first, Kowal sent money willingly. Later it appeared she had been coerced. Over the course of almost two years, Kowal sent nearly $2 million to “Frank,” her financial records showed.
“Frank” was not a real person, but a group of scammers based out of West Africa according to law enforcement. The scammers used stolen photos to create the fraudulent profile.
By the end of their correspondence, “Frank” had drained Laura of her life savings, and the scammers began instructing Kowal how to set up fake companies and bank accounts to move money.
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The case typified an increasingly common facet of these online romance scams — the use of so-called money mules to disguise and launder financial transactions. The CBS News investigation found that one of Kowal’s initial payments for $75,000 made at “Frank’s” request was actually received by the three people living in the Chicago suburbs, including Gosha, according to law enforcement records.
The other two conspirators, both Nigerian nationals, Samuel Aniukwu and Anthony Ibekie, were sentenced in November. The criminal complaints against the three say undercover agents made secret recordings that show their involvement in romance-fraud and a range of other schemes. Investigators allege the trio’s scams resulted in at least $750,000 in losses for victims.
Aniukwu pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in July 2023 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of his plea deal. He received a 10 year prison sentence.
Ibekie pleaded not guilty to the14 counts against him, which included wire fraud and forgery. He went on trial last September and was found guilty on all 14 counts. Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
CBS News spoke to a juror on Ibekie’s trial who told us the most moving aspect of the case against Ibekie were the victim statements. Four witnesses testified about the pain and loss they suffered through Ibekie’s scams, including a retired dentist in his 70s, who suffered from early onset dementia.
“He did cry on the stand a little,” said the juror, who asked to remain anonymous, about Ibekie. “But it seemed more about the overwhelming amount of evidence they had against him.”
Kelly Gowe, Laura Kowal’s daughter, gave a victim impact statement at both Ibekie and Aniukwu’s sentencing, sharing words about her late mother. In an interview with CBS News last year, she told us she has “so much anger” towards the criminals who led her mother to her death.
“I look at my life now, and my mom is missing out on all of that,” said Gowe in an interview last year. “They took so much away from me. They took everything away from her. My family will never get that time back.”
In an interview with CBS News last year, Gosha explained that she had been dating Ibekie, whom she thought was a Nigerian doctor. Gosha said she was also a victim of a romance scam, and became a money mule herself.
In sentencing Gosha, Judge Steven Seeger recognized “the seriousness of the crime and the terrible damage inflicted upon the victims” but also recognized “the great disparity in Ms. Gosha’s relative culpability,” said Patrick Boyle, Gosha’s attorney, in a statement to CBS News.
“She had lived her entire life as an honest and law-abiding citizen until she met Anthony Ibekie,” Boyle said. “Anthony exploited her best qualities and manipulated her to accomplish his selfish goals. Jennifer regrets assisting Anthony in any way.”
When she was arrested on charges of conspiring with Ibekie, she said she felt she had been trapped. “If I’m someone who’s ‘complicit’ in it, why am I left here not with 50 cents?” Gosha told CBS News.
