2025-04-10
Oklahoma woman scammed $1.5m out of elderly women posing as men in fake romances, officials say
In December 2024, Oklahoma officials say Jason Morris convinced his online, elderly girlfriend to send him $120,000 to pay for an oil vessel carrying 700,000 barrels in Alaska he allegedly owned to return to shore. Once the rig returned, she and Morris would move in together.The bank held the funds, according to court documents. Morris instructed the woman to contact her bank and lie to them, saying the funds were for purchasing property and not for the alleged oil tanker.But the bank was right to raise suspicion — officials say there was never an Alaskan oil rig. In fact, they say there was never a Jason Morris.‘Scams that target seniors’Christine Joan Echohawk, a 53-year-old woman from Oklahoma, was allegedly the face behind the screen, scamming the older woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and laundering the money.Four different women were scammed out of $1.5 million through Echohawk’s online romance scams between Sept. 30 and Dec. 26, 2024, according to a release from the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.The women were between the ages of 64 and 79 and all lived outside of Oklahoma.“These types of scams that target seniors are especially egregious,” Drummond said in the release.The attorney general filed charges against Echohawk on Monday for “unlawful use of criminal proceeds and using a computer to violate state statutes,” the release said. Echohawk was sent cash, checks, wired funds and even tens of thousands in Apple gift cards.Authorities say Echohawk laundered the funds through various accounts, converting the money into cryptocurrency and sending those crypto payments to an unidentified suspect.Jason Morris, Edward Lotts and Glenn GoadardThe alleged scams included fake names — such as Edward Lotts and Glenn Goadard — and elaborate backstories explaining the need for loads of cash, according to a probable cause affidavit.Lotts convinced one woman to send more than $600,000 to pay off a debt that would allow $2 million to be released to “him.” When the debt was paid off, Lotts would move in with her, the affidavit stated.The victim sold her paid-off home to send all the money.Goadard contacted another woman claiming to know her since college. The woman was persuaded into paying $250,000 for expenses on a financial portfolio Goadard would send her from Syria.But Echohawk allegedly received all the funds, depositing them into a MidFirst Bank account in which she was the sole signatory, according to the affidavit.The Stillwater MidFirst Bank branch tipped off Drummond’s office in January, suspecting Echohawk of senior-fraud activity after a $120,000 payment from one of the victims was intercepted and held, according to the release. The Consumer Protection Unit subsequently investigated.Confidence/romance crimes and Maurice DeniroDefined as a confidence/romance scheme by the FBI, these crimes occur when an individual believes they are in a relationship — whether family, friend or romantic — and manipulated into sending money, financial or personal information, or items of value to a perpetrator. The FBI Internet Crime Report found more than $600 million was lost in 2023 to confidence/romance crimes alone.Local law enforcement confronted Echohawk about the suspected criminal activity in January, but after a short hiatus she allegedly continued to launder the money.Echohawk was voluntarily interviewed at the Pawnee police department on March 26, an interview she opened with asking if it would “all go away” if she paid back the individuals who sent her money, according to the affidavit.But she then claimed it was her who was in an online relationship, that she was receiving cash, checks, wire transfers and other items since 2023 for an individual under the alias of Maurice Dinero, the affidavit said. Echohawk claimed there were “red flags” about her situation and had concerns she would be arrested.When Echohawk consented to having her purse searched, the affidavit said, there were multiple bank cards associated with accounts she allegedly laundered money through, a MidFirst Bank deposit slip for $110,000 and several Apple gift cards found with the barcodes revealed. There was also $500 in cash, which Echohawk said was from individuals sending money to the alias, but she had not yet deposited.Echohawk faces four counts of unlawful use of criminal proceeds and one count of violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, which could carry up to 62 years in prison and $260,000 in fines, the release said.She has been held in Pawnee County Jail since Monday, according to Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office records. An attorney was not listed and it’s unclear if she has legal representation.“I applaud the work of my Consumer Protection Unit to fight for these victims and to hold accountable their alleged perpetrator,” Drummond said in the release.This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Sen. Michael Bennet will run for governor of Colorado in 2026Florida charges Ryan Routh, who allegedly tried to assassinate TrumpDemocrats question whether Trump and his allies engaged in insider trading on tariffs
