A Lebanese man who impersonated an Emirati prince has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a U.S. federal court in San Antonio for wire fraud.

Alex Tannous, 39, falsely claimed to be a wealthy businessman with connections to Emirati royalty, tricking victims around the world out of substantial sums of money.

Court documents revealed that Tannous promised victims lucrative investment opportunities, requiring them to pay upfront fees to access millions supposedly available for projects.

Instead, he used these funds to finance his extravagant lifestyle.

Victims included individuals from various countries, with one Belgian victim stating he lost €700,000 (approximately AED 2.77 million) after being lured into a fake investment in a project in Qatar.

Another victim from Libya reported losing AED 1.15 million.

Tannous was arrested in February and faced multiple counts of wire fraud. He pleaded guilty to one count in July and was ordered to repay $2.2 million to his victims.

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In addition to his prison sentence, he must also complete over 2,000 hours of community service and will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

U.S. officials described Tannous as a “serial con artist” who exploited the trust of his victims, many of whom were small business owners hoping for legitimate opportunities.