Jailed: Maxwell Rusey
A man has been sentenced to five years in prison for orchestrating a romance scam that defrauded a woman of over £120,000, following an investigation by Kent Police.
In May 2023, a woman from Medway reported to the police that she had transferred substantial sums of money to a man she met online, only to realize she had been deceived. The man, posing as an army officer on covert operations in Mali, convinced her to help import a consignment of gold by paying duties and taxes.
Over 16 transactions in 2022 and 2023, the woman transferred £128,500 to accounts supposedly belonging to the man’s colleague. However, detectives discovered the accounts were set up by Maxwell Rusey from Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
Rusey, 53, was arrested in March 2024 and charged with fraud and money laundering after a fake passport used to open one of the accounts was found in his possession. He pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and was sentenced on September 23.
Detective Constable Mark Newman said:
‘Romance fraud is a particularly cruel offence which causes serious emotional harm for victims, as well as the financial impact it entails.
‘Many victims struggle to report offences due to the level of deception used by fraudsters and I would like to praise the victim in this case for coming forward and supporting this prosecution.
‘I am pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness of the offence in the sentence handed down and I hope it sends a message to other offenders that jail awaits them.’