An Ohio man thought he was helping a woman he met online pay for medical equipment and hospital bills. Court records say “Aggie Gonzales” was a fake persona, and People reported that the victim ultimately lost $416,155.
The money trail later reached Kenny Osas Okuonghae, 38, of Edison, New Jersey. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said Okuonghae was sentenced to 51 months in prison for conspiring to launder money obtained from internet-related scams.
U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner also ordered three years of supervised release and $1,275,190 in restitution.
Okuonghae pleaded guilty on April 29, 2025, to conspiring to commit money laundering.
The Online Relationship Started With Medical Bills
The FBI complaint describes the Ohio man as Victim-1 and says he met someone online who claimed to be a woman named “Aggie Gonzales.”
During the online relationship, “Aggie” asked him to help buy medical equipment and said she would repay him, according to the complaint.
After he sent money, the story changed. “Aggie” claimed she had been injured in Canada and needed more money for hospital bills, the complaint says.
Investigators said the people behind the scheme sent financial documents and emotional messages to make the story look real. One message came from someone claiming to be “Dr. Ben Levy,” a doctor in Brazil, who sent a photo of a woman in a hospital bed and urged the victim to help because “time is not on her side.”
The Fake Repayment Became a Crypto Trap
The complaint says “Aggie Gonzales” later told the Ohio man she would repay him through cryptocurrency investments on a platform called Alphacoin Lab.
Alphacoin Lab maintained several websites that made it appear to be a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform, according to the complaint. One website promised a “120% per annum (10% per month)” return on investments.
The Ohio man was told he could receive the money in his Alphacoin Lab account after paying taxes and fees. The complaint says those payments were directed to a bank account in the name of Kenny Global Enterprises LLC, which the victim was told was a subsidiary of Alphacoin Lab.
In April 2022, the Ohio man mailed a $29,000 certified check payable to “Kenny Okuonghae” to an address in Edison, New Jersey, according to the complaint. He was also instructed to wire money to a Kenny Global Enterprises account.
Prosecutors Say the Money Moved Through Business Accounts
The Justice Department said Okuonghae laundered money from internet-related scams from about 2019 through December 2023. The scams included property-rental scams, romance scams, and a pig-butchering scheme.
Prosecutors said Okuonghae opened several bank accounts across at least seven banks and allowed criminal proceeds to be deposited into and transferred out of those accounts.
An older DOJ charging release said Okuonghae was initially charged with laundering at least $2.1 million through accounts. The FBI complaint also says he told one bank that wires from the Ohio victim were payments for car engines and parts tied to a car-parts business.
The complaint says investigators found invoices for truck parts that were used to make funds look like legitimate business payments.
The Sentence Followed a Money-Laundering Guilty Plea
Okuonghae’s 51-month sentence followed his guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The FTC says anyone who paid a scammer by gift card, wire transfer, credit or debit card, or cryptocurrency should contact the company or bank immediately and ask whether the payment can be reversed.
The FBI says romance-scam victims should stop contact with the person asking for money and report the fraud through the Internet Crime Complaint Center.