LSE is convicted of laundering romance scam funds linked to €38,000 fraud of elderly woman

A Learning Support Educator from Ħaż-Żebbuġ has been convicted of money laundering and receiving proceeds of crime after transferring thousands of euros linked to an international romance scam targeting an elderly Maltese woman.

Magistrate Rachel Montebello, presiding over the case, found 44-year-old Annabelle Azzopardi guilty on all charges, ruling that even if she did not directly take part in the fraud, she had suspected the illicit origin of the funds and chose to proceed regardless.

The case stemmed from a romance scam in which 70-year-old Maria Fatima Zahra was tricked into sending €38,650 to various bank accounts by a man posing as an American doctor stationed in Yemen. The victim believed she was helping him travel to Malta for both romantic and humanitarian reasons.

Azzopardi’s account received five payments totalling €4,950, which she then transferred abroad under the instruction of her boyfriend, a Nigerian national by the name of Sunny Ogiewomgi, who lived in Greece.

According to her testimony, Azzopardi met Sunny during a 2022 holiday in Greece. Their relationship developed, and when she returned to Malta, he repeatedly asked for her bank details, claiming he needed to send money to a relative but lacked the paperwork to do so himself.

Although initially hesitant, she said she eventually agreed after revisiting Greece that December. Upon her return, she began receiving the funds and, at Sunny’s direction, sent them to a woman named Ella Shevela, allegedly a Ukrainian colleague of his based in Katerini, Greece. Sunny reportedly told her that Ella allowed him to use her account and needed to be compensated for it.

Investigators later discovered that the transfers were part of a wider scam network. Azzopardi admitted she had grown uneasy, telling police “I’m not liking this.” She also said she had deleted WhatsApp messages with Sunny “for personal reasons,” and that his number was saved under the name Ella Shevela.

The court held that while Azzopardi may have been manipulated, she could not have reasonably overlooked the suspicious nature of the transactions, particularly given her education and the pattern of foreign transfers.

In its ruling, the court reaffirmed that under Maltese law, a person can be guilty of money laundering not only if they know but also if they merely suspect that the money has a criminal origin, a subjective test requiring no proof of reasonable grounds.

Azzopardi was handed a 14-month prison term, suspended for three years, and ordered to reimburse Zahra the €4,950 in question. The funds, already under a freezing order, were confiscated by the State, and Azzopardi was also ordered to pay €2,895.72 in court and expert fees.

Magistrate Montebello noted that while the court took account of her cooperation and clean record, her lack of remorse, heightened by the fact that the accused tried to excuse her behaviour instead of returning the money, and failure to verify obvious red flags warranted a deterrent sentence.