North Dakota Man Sentenced in Texas Romance Scam, Ordered to Repay $4.7M
A North Dakota man has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for his role in a multi-million-dollar romance scam that defrauded victims across the United States.
Daniel Boadu, 36, of Williston, North Dakota, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced on August 29, 2025, to 54 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Michael J. Truncale also ordered Boadu to pay more than $4.7 million in restitution, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
According to information presented in court, from at least August 2015 through February 2021, Boadu conspired with others to defraud individuals in what is commonly known as a romance scam. In a romance scam, culprits post fake profiles on various dating websites throughout the United States and the world. The profiles are used to lure unsuspecting victims looking for romance or companionship. After contacting the victim online, the culprit uses various forms of communication such as email, instant messaging, text messaging, smart phone applications and phone calls to build trust and form a relationship. Once trust has been gained, the culprit will convince the victim to provide money for various reasons.
The victim then transfers funds or deposits money into bank accounts within the United States. The bank account holder in the United States will then transfer the fraudulently obtained funds to the culprit facilitating the fraud, often keeping a portion of the funds for themselves. In this scam, Boadu was one of the bank account holders in the United States.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anand Varadarajan.
