ATLANTA — A Georgia man has been convicted in a Louisiana federal court for his role in a scheme that involved stringing along women online then extracting millions of dollars from them.
During a four-day trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Kenneth G. Akpieyi, 44, played a key role in defrauding women by connecting them with romantic partners on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said Monday.
The conversations then moved to encrypted platforms, including WhatsApp, where the perpetrators asked the women to send money for fraudulent reasons, such as for charity or to help with family illnesses, prosecutors said…