A woman from Las Vegas accused of attracting men through dating sites, drugs and taking money was in custody in Mexico on Friday when US authorities announced a federal accusation against her.
Aurora Phelps, 43, has been accused of a kidnapping count, resulting in death and kidnapping, as well as seven charges of cable fraud, three charges of fraud by mail and identity theft, and six positions of Bank fraud, according to a statement from the United States Prosecutor’s Office for the Nevada district.
It was not clear if Phelps has a lawyer for the case. The Federal Public Defender’s Office in Nevada did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The American prosecutor of the Nevada district and the special agent in charge of the FBI Vegas office announced the charges of an replacement accusation of 21 positions at a press conference on Friday.
It is alleged that Phelps met mainly with older men through appointment applications before organizing dates, drugs and accessing online financial holdings while they were not totally aware, federal officials said.
They claim Phelps, who has residences in Las Vegas and Guadalajara, did it on both sides of the border.
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge, claimed that a victim was drugged, carried across the border in his wheelchair and finally discovered dead in a hotel room in Mexico City. He said that the victim of Mexico City and two others died shortly after his meetings with Phelps. A fourth victim was sedated to the point of becoming a coma but survived, he said.
“We believe that Aurora Phelps went deliberately and methodically to older men to drug them and steal them,” Evans said.
Evans said he took cars and agreed to Social Security accounts and retirement plans as part of his alleged crimes from 2019 to the end of 2022.
The total value of their scheme, authorities said at the press conference, was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and could be more if they are additional victims. Phelps used money to buy luxury products, among other things, Evans claimed.
“This is a romantic scam on steroids,” he said.
The authorities said there are 11 victims in total, and four make up the basis of the federal accusation. Two of the four are from Nevada, they said.
The FBI said in a newsletter that officials believe there may be more victims and encourage anyone who believes that he may have been a victim of presenting.
It is alleged that Phelps went to a wide range of people who also included younger women and men, the newsletter said. The FBI said that Aurora Flores, Aurora Velasco and Aurora Álvarez has also gone.
Phelps also lived in Arkansas and, although he was born in the United States, it is a double citizenship with Mexico, authorities said.
Federal officials said the Mexican authorities are investigating Phelps in cooperation with the FBI, who was working to extradite her from Mexico.
He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, if he is declared guilty, said the office of the US prosecutor.
Michelle Acevedo contributed.
