BRADENTON, Fla. — A Minnesota man arrested in connection with a romance scam targeting an elderly Florida resident has been convicted and ordered to pay restitution, according to the Bradenton Police Department.
Benjamin Yakah was sentenced after pleading no contest to grand theft involving between $20,000 and $100,000. A judge ordered him to serve one year in jail, followed by four years of probation, and to pay $31,000 in restitution to a 79-year-old Bradenton widower.
The investigation began in June 2024 when the victim’s children contacted the department’s Elder Fraud Unit with concerns about their father’s online relationship with a woman named “Julia,” whom he met on Facebook in late 2023…