San Francisco Man Pretended To Be Congo President's Son In $1.6 Million Scam

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco man has pleaded guilty to charges that he defrauded a Northern California real estate agent and his girlfriend out of $1.6 million over four years by pretending to be the son of Congo's president.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco announced Monday that Blessed Marvelous Herve admitted in court Friday that he persuaded the couple to forward him the money with promises of repayment, lucrative commissions, and false claims that the federal government had seized his money and imprisoned him.

Herve has been jailed since he was arrested in April. He faces of a maximum prison sentence of 20 years when he is sentenced on Nov. 22.

At 41, Herve is the same age as Joseph Kabila, who has been president of the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001.