Oscar Peters, a 65-year-old British man, convinced a Portland resident to send him $1.9 million after meeting on an online dating site. (File photo)

Oscar Peters was sentenced to prison on Wednesday, June 4, for stealing approximately $1.9 million from a Portland resident in a romance fraud scheme.

The 65-year-old United Kingdom resident, is sentenced to 37 months, or just more than 3 years, in prison and 3 years of supervised released, according to officials. He is ordered to pay $1,892,439 in restitution to his victim.

Peters met his victim through Millionaire Match Maker, an online dating website, and convinced his victim that he was a billionaire living in Denmark seeking long-term commitment, according to court records.

He regularly engaged in daily romantic emails and phone calls, and he ingratiated himself with promises of marriage, according to a press release. Peters continued to fabricate lies for why he needed money — his soon-to-be ex-wife had frozen his assets or he needed it to complete business obligations for their future.

Peters promised to victim he would repay the money and move to Portland, according to a press release, and managed to collect about $1.9 million over two years.

On June 4, 2019, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a seven-count indictment charging Peters with wire fraud. On April 9, 2020, Peters was arrested in the United Kingdom where he remained in custody until he was extradited to the United States on Oct. 23, 2023. On March 26, 2023, Peters pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.