Las Vegas (AP) -A woman who used online dating apps to lure at least four older men to meet her personally, then drugs them with sedativa and stable hundreds of thousands of dollars in a “sinister” romance schedule, FBI officials in Las Vegas said Friday.
Three of the men died, the authorities said, and she was sued in one of their death.
Aurora Phelps, 43, who is in custody in Mexico, is confronted with 21 counts, including wire fraud, identity theft and one counting of kidnapping in death, said Sue Fahami, the acting lawyer of the United States for the Nevada district, on a press conference.
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“This is a romantic scam on steroids,” said Spencer Evans, the special agent responsible for the Las Vegas Division of the FBI. One of the four victims, who were the target of 2021 and 2022, woke up from a coma after Phelps gave him a sedativa prescribed in the course of a week, Evans added.
In one case, Phelps would have kidnapped a victim by stunning him heavily and bringing him across the border between the US and Mexico in a wheelchair and then to a hotel room in Mexico City, where he was later found dead.
After she had eliminated her victims, Evans, Phelps stole their cars, withdrew money from their bank accounts, used their credit cards to buy luxury items and gold and even tried to gain access to social security and pension accounts.
According to the indictment, Phelps met a man in July 2021, went on lunch Dates with him and that November I lunch to his house and pushed him a prescription medicine.
Although he was “usually unconscious” for about five days, Phelps gained access to his accounts and he stole his iPhone, iPads, driver's license and bank cards, according to the indictment. Allegedly she would have opened his E-Trade account and sold Apple shares worth around $ 3.3 million, although she could not withdraw that money.
Authorities believe that Phelps used popular dating apps, including Tinder, Hinge and Bumble to find her goals. The men were lonely and searched for company and went on several dates with Phelps before they secretly gave them sedativa, according to Evans.
“They are people looking for love who encountered something much more sinister,” he said.
According to Evans, Phelps, a double citizen of Mexico and the US, had been on the FBI radar for a few years. He refused to comment on her criminal history.
The Associated Press left reports that commented with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and the office of the attorney General.
Several family members of the victims mentioned authorities when they were unable to contact their loved ones, said Evans.
A woman could not reach her father the day after he went on a date with Phelps in Guadalajara, Mexico, in May 2022, according to the court reports. The next day the Mexican police found him dead on the bathroom floor of his house. Phelps then used an account of the victim to buy a gold coin, together with other transactions, claims the indictment.
The FBI is aware of more alleged victims in the US and Mexico, Evans said, and makes information about the case of the case, including suspected Aliass, hoping to identify others who 'became the victim of her scams and whose trust can have in her. them their lives. “
The FBI also works with the Ministry of Justice and the Mexican authorities to secure its extradition.
If convicted for each indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of postfraud, six counts of bank fraud, three counts of identity theft and one counting of kidnapping, Phelps stands for a maximum life sentence in prison, Fahami said.
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Bedayn reported from Denver and Govindararo from Phoenix.
