A lady used on-line relationship apps to lure a minimum of 4 older males to fulfill her in particular person, drugged them with sedatives and stole a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} in a “sinister” romance scheme, FBI officers in Las Vegas mentioned on Friday.
Three of the lads died, authorities mentioned, and he or she has been charged in one in every of their deaths.
Aurora Phelps, 43, who’s in custody in Mexico, faces 21 counts together with wire fraud, id theft and one rely of kidnapping leading to demise, Sue Fahami, the performing US lawyer for the district of Nevada, mentioned at a information convention.
“This can be a romance rip-off on steroids,” mentioned Spencer Evans, the particular agent in command of the FBI’s Las Vegas division. One of many 4 victims – who have been all focused in 2021 and 2022 – awoke from a coma after Phelps gave him prescription sedatives over the course of every week, Evans added.
In a single occasion, Phelps is alleged to have kidnapped a sufferer by closely sedating him and taking him throughout the US-Mexico border in a wheelchair – after which to a Mexico Metropolis lodge room, the place he was later discovered useless.
After incapacitating her victims, Evans mentioned, Phelps stole their automobiles, withdrew cash from their financial institution accounts, used their bank cards to buy luxurious gadgets and gold, and even tried to entry social safety and retirement accounts.
In accordance with the indictment, Phelps met one man in July 2021, went on lunch dates with him, ordered lunch to his home that November and slipped him a prescription drug.
Whereas he was “principally unconscious” for about 5 days, Phelps gained entry to his accounts and stole his iPhone, iPads, driver’s license and financial institution playing cards, based on the indictment. She additionally allegedly accessed his E-Commerce account and offered Apple inventory price about $3.3m, although she was unable to withdraw that cash.
Authorities consider Phelps used in style relationship apps together with Tinder, Hinge and Bumble to seek out her targets. The boys have been lonely and searching for companionship and went on a number of dates with Phelps earlier than she stealthily gave them sedatives, based on Evans.
“It’s people which can be out searching for love that bumped into one thing much more sinister,” Evans mentioned.
Phelps, a twin citizen of Mexico and the US, had been on the FBI’s radar for a few years, based on Evans. He declined to touch upon her legal historical past.
Phelps doesn’t have a US-based lawyer who may converse on her behalf, a spokesperson for the justice division mentioned. The Related Press left messages in search of remark with Mexico’s international affairs ministry and lawyer basic’s workplace.
A number of of the victims’ kinfolk known as authorities after they have been unable to contact their family members, Evans mentioned.
One girl was unable to achieve her father the day after he went on a date with Phelps in Guadalajara, Mexico, in Could 2022, based on court docket data. The subsequent day, Mexican police discovered him useless on the lavatory flooring of his dwelling. Phelps then used an account belonging to the sufferer to purchase a gold coin, together with different transactions, the indictment alleges.
The FBI is conscious of extra alleged victims within the US and Mexico, Evans mentioned – and is making details about the case public, together with suspected aliases, in hopes of figuring out others who “fell sufferer to her scams and whose belief in her could have value them their life”.
The FBI can also be working with the justice division and Mexican authorities to safe her extradition.
If convicted on each cost, which embrace seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, six counts of financial institution fraud, three counts of id theft and one rely of kidnapping, Phelps faces a most sentence of life in jail, Fahami mentioned.
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