LAS VEGAS (FOX5/Gray News) – The FBI’s Las Vegas branch announced on Friday criminal charges against a woman who is accused of “deliberately and methodically” targeting older men to rob them of everything.
Aurora Phelps is currently incarcerated in Mexico and awaiting extradition after the Department of Justice filed a motion to unseal an indictment against her.
In one instance, Phelps allegedly drugged a Nevada man and then pushed him in a wheelchair across the border while he was in an “inebriated state.”
“Phelps then took him to a hotel room in Mexico City, where the victim was found dead a few hours later,“ FBI Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans explained.
Evans says all of the victims in the indictment are U.S. citizens. Three of the men are from Nevada.
“Two of Phelps’ other alleged victims were found dead shortly after their encounters with her, and the one living victim mentioned in the indictment survived and emerged from a coma after Phelps administered large amounts of prescription sedatives to him over the course of a week.” Evans added.
The FBI says it’s “one of the most egregious and reprehensible” romance schemes in recent history.
The crimes spanned from July 2021 and December 2022.
“We believe Phelps connected with each of them through an online dating application so she could lure them into her confidence under false pretenses and then drug them with dangerous doses of prescription sedatives and other controlled substances,” Evans said during Friday’s press conference.
Phelps is also alleged to have stolen millions of dollars in stock from one of the victims.
“Once she incapacitated her victims, Phelps stole their cars, accessed their bank and brokerage accounts to withdraw cash, used their credit cards to make a variety of purchases including luxury retail goods and gold, and even attempted to access their social security and retirement accounts,” Evans added
Phelps’ charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, six counts of bank fraud, three counts of ID theft, one count of kidnapping and one count of kidnapping resulting in death.
Investigators asked any individuals who believe they had been targeted by Phelps to contact the FBI. The FBI fears there could be more victims.
Phelps faces life in prison if convicted.
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