Fake billionaire steals $2M from Oregon woman in ‘heartbreaking scheme,' feds say
A British man passed himself off as an international billionaire and nearly wiped out an Oregon woman's life savings in a 'heartbreaking scheme' that cost her close to $2 million, federal prosecutors said.
Oscar Peters was sentenced to more than three years behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon said in a June 4 news release.
The 65-year-old also must pay restitution and serve three years of supervised release when he gets out of prison, prosecutors said.
McClatchy News reached out to his attorneys June 5 and was awaiting a response.
Peters met the Portland woman through an online dating site called Millionaire Match Maker and said he 'was a billionaire living in Denmark seeking long-term commitment,' according to prosecutors.
He 'engaged in daily romantic emails and phone calls with his victim and ingratiated himself with promises of marriage,' prosecutors said.
He also started asking the woman for money, saying, for example, that he was going through a divorce and his assets were frozen, according to prosecutors.
Peters got 'access to (the woman's) bank accounts and credit cards' and had her wire funds to help with these bogus problems, prosecutors said in a court filing.
Some wires went to his 'assistant,' who was actually his wife, the court filing said, adding that, in reality, the purported billionaire 'had no businesses, no clients, and no wealth.'
He told the Portland woman he'd come to Oregon 'so they could be together,' however, 'something always got in the way,' the court filing said.
He also promised he'd pay the woman back, but 'like (him), the money never showed up,' according to the court filing.
In all, he took about $1.89 million, or almost all of the woman's life savings, the court filing said.
'He spent over $500,000 on credit cards, over $119,000 on travel, over $68,000 on limousine services and car rentals, approximately $57,000 on Apple purchases, and sent over $200,000 to his wife,' according to the filing.
Peters was indicted in 2019, arrested in the United Kingdom the next year and extradited to the U.S. in 2023, prosecutors said.
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