PAWNEE – A local woman accused of laundering $1.5 million obtained through online romance scams pleaded guilty recently to five felony charges.
Christine Joan Echohawk, 54, of Pawnee, was charged April 7 in Pawnee County District Court with four counts of unlawful use of criminal proceeds and one count of using a computer to violate state statutes. The charges were filed by the Attorney General’s office.
Echohawk was accused of laundering money from four out-of-state victims between Sept. 30 and Dec. 26, 2024. All of the victims are elderly women who live in Florida, Utah and Texas and ranged in age from 64 to 79. They believed they were sending funds to, or for the benefit of, a male subject with whom they thought they were in an online romantic relationship.
One woman sold her house so that she could send $600,000 to the scammer. The victims sent Apple gift cards, cash and cashiers’ checks, and wired money to accounts owned by Echohawk at a Mid-First branch bank in Stillwater, a court record reflects.
An affidavit filed by an agent in the Attorney General’s office reported they received a tip from MidFirst Bank in January of suspected senior-fraud activity after the bank intercepted and held a $120,000 transfer from one of the victims. The Consumer Protection Unit subsequently investigated.
Echohawk was accused of laundering the illegally obtained funds through various accounts, converting them to cryptocurrency and then sending crypto payments to an unidentified suspect.
In January 2024, local law enforcement confronted Echohawk about suspected criminal activity, but she allegedly continued to launder funds after a short hiatus.
Justin Hokett, the Attorney General’s agent, said Echohawk admitted she received cash, checks, electronic fund transfers “and other such items of monetary value since 2023” on behalf of “an individual she believed herself to be in a romantic relationship with…” This person identified himself as Maurice Dinero, an alias that combines a French first name with a last name that is a Spanish word for money.
Echohawk pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to all five charges and was sentenced to a combined total of 62 years in prison, with eight years to serve and the balance of 54 years suspended. She also was ordered to pay $621,750 in restitution to the four victims, $500 to a co urt fund, and $250 to the Victims of Crime Act fund.
Ironically, Echohawk was represented by the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, because apparently she sent all of the proceeds from her illegal activities to her unidentified paramour. She was ordered to pay OIDS $250.
Suspected fraud should be reported to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit at (833) 681-1895 or consumerprotection@ oag.ok.gov.