California man federally charged in alleged dating-app scheme

[ad_1] A California man was arrested on a 14-count federal indictment Thursday that alleges he used relationship apps to con matches out of tens of millions of {dollars} by posing as an investor, officers stated.

Christopher Earl Lloyd, 39, of Orange County, is accused of executing the scheme from April 2021 till February 2024, in accordance with the indictment, launched Thursday by the Justice Division within the Central District of California.

The indictment accuses Lloyd of utilizing relationship apps — like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble — "to befriend and interact in romantic relationships with victims," whom he then lied to about his funds and profession to get them to take a position their cash with him. Once they despatched him money, he used it for his "private profit," in accordance with the federal indictment.

Lloyd informed the victims that he had just lately closed on a number of properties, that he had been a finance supervisor for years, that he was vice chairman of an organization known as 13 Holdings and that he labored for an funding firm known as Landmark Holdings — none of which was true, the indictment alleges.

He satisfied his victims that he was educated about investments and inspired them to ship him their cash for him to take a position, in accordance with the indictment.

The indictment alleges he promised that his victims would see "common returns" on the cash invested with him and that their investments have been "insured as much as a major quantity." He additionally informed them they may withdraw their funds at any time, the indictment says.

To legitimize the method, Lloyd signed contracts that "specified the investments that the victims have been to make" and created "a false schedule of returns on their investments," the indictment alleges. His victims despatched cash to plenty of financial institution accounts he owned by way of wire, Zelle and Money App or through the use of money, it says.

"Reasonably than utilizing the victims' funds for investments, defendant Lloyd largely spent it for his personal private profit," the indictment says, together with a 2023 incident during which he used $40,000 of his victims' cash to jot down a verify to a Lexus dealership in Southern California.

The federal indictment lists at the least 5 victims who it says, on a number of events, wired Lloyd quantities that ranged from $15,500 to $110,000. In whole, Lloyd collected greater than $2 million from his victims by the scheme, it says.

Lloyd was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and one rely of participating in a financial transaction in property derived from the fraud, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace stated in a launch.

He made an preliminary look in U.S. District Courtroom in Santa Ana on Thursday afternoon and stays in federal custody.

A lawyer representing Lloyd didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.

If he's convicted, Lloyd would face a statutory most sentence of 20 years in federal jail for every of the 13 wire fraud counts and as much as 10 years in jail for the financial transaction rely.