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Man Pleads Guilty To Scamming Nuns, Others Out Of $1.3M

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Officials say a man that schemed at least 50 people, including nuns, out of approximately $1.3 million pleaded guilty Friday.

According to police, 54-year-old Adriano Sotomayor, of Margate, New Jersey, tricked members of the Dominican Sisters of the Rosary of Fatima, or Sisters of Fatima, into sending him money through wire transfers to pay taxes, processing fees and various legal fees for a fictitious property.

Sotomayor convinced an elderly nun that she had been named as a beneficiary of an property worth about $2.1 million and she needed to pay different fees, says officials.

Allegedly, he also persuaded other victims in Levittown and Philadelphia to send money to him on the elderly nun's behalf.

Investigators say Sotomayor received at least $1.3 million from at least 50 victims who sent wire transfers to the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Bally's Park Place, Showboat Hotel and Casino and other places.

Sotomayor is facing 70 to 188 months in prison.

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