Romance fraudster who conned £120,000 out of woman in Margate has been jailed for 5 years

A romance fraudster who conned more than £120,000 out of a woman in Margate has been jailed for more than five years.

Maxwell Rusey, formerly of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, had pretended to be an army officer involved in 'covert operations' in Mali online.

An investigation by Kent Police found through online messages, Rusey said he wanted to live with the victim when he returned to the UK.

He told her he had a consignment of gold, which he needed to import back to the UK, and asked if she could help his friend pay the relevant duties and taxes.

The woman agreed and in 16 separate transactions in 2022 and 2023, paid £128,500 into accounts the man claimed belonged to his colleague.

The 53-year-old was arrested in March 2024 and later charged with fraud and money laundering offences, after a fake passport used to set up one of the accounts was found in his possession.

He admitted money laundering and possession of articles for use in fraud at Woolwich Crown Court and was jailed for five years on Monday 23 September.

Detective Constable Mark Newman said: "Romance fraud is a particularly cruel offence which causes serious emotional harm for victims, as well as the financial impact it entails.

"Many victims struggle to report offences due to the level of deception used by fraudsters and I would like to praise the victim in this case for coming forward and supporting this prosecution.

"I am pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness of the offence in the sentence handed down and I hope it sends a message to other offenders that jail awaits them."

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