A Las Vegas woman accused of attracting men through her dating location was detained in Mexico Friday after U.S. authorities announced federal prosecution against her.
Aurora Phelps, 43, was charged with one count of kidnapping, resulting in death and kidnapping, and seven counts of wire fraud, each count of mail fraud and identity theft and six counts of six counts of Bank fraud. Depart from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada.
It is not clear whether Phelps has a lawyer in the case. The Nevada Federal Public Defender Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aurora Phelps.
U.S. attorneys in Nevada and special agents under the FBI’s Las Vegas office announced 21 charges that replaced the indictment at a press conference Friday.
Federal officials said Phelps allegedly met with seniors through dating apps before the scheduled date, gaining financial holdings online while they were not fully aware of it.
They alleged Phelps, who had residences in Las Vegas and Guadalajara, did so on both sides of the border.
The agent in charge Spencer Evans accused a victim of drug use, crossing the border in a wheelchair, and eventually found dead in a room at the Mexico City hotel. He said the victims in Mexico City, as well as two other victims, died shortly after meeting Phelps. He said a fourth victim was sedated to a coma but survived.
“We believe Aurora Phelps is deliberately and methodically targeting older men taking drugs for them and stealing them from them,” Evans said.
Evans said she took a car and visited a Social Security account and retirement plan from 2019 to the second half of 2022.
Officials said in a news conference that the total value of her plan is hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that it may be more if other victims are found. Phelps used the money to buy the luxury goods Evans allegedly claimed.
“This is a romantic scam against steroids,” he said.
There were 11 victims in total, four of whom formed the basis of the federal indictment, officials said. They said two of the four were from Nevada.
Officials believe there may be more victims and encourage anyone who thinks they may be victimized to stand up, the FBI said in the announcement.
Phelps is said to target a wide variety of people, including women and young men, the announcement said. The FBI said she also named after Aurora Flores, Aurora Velasco and Aurora Alvarez.
Phelps also lived in Arkansas, and despite being born in the United States, she is a dual nationality in Mexico.
Mexican authorities are working with the FBI to investigate Phelps, who is working to extradite her from Mexico, federal officials said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said she faces the highest criminal lawsuit if convicted.
This article was originally published on nbcnews.com.
