United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia

01/16/2026 | Press release | Archived content

Virginia Beach man sentenced to 45 years in prison for auto loan scheme and identity theft

NORFOLK, Va. - A Virginia Beach man was sentenced today to 45 years in prison for defrauding and exploiting numerous victims including romantic partners, credit unions, auto dealers, and even strangers.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Dion Lamont Camp, 41, conned numerous women into romantic relationships and leveraged those relationships to obtain fraudulent loans and credit cards. He typically sought out women with good jobs and high credit scores, particularly enlisted U.S. Navy servicemembers. Camp caused six fraudulent loans to be issued from a national credit union in 2020 through 2022 for luxury cars that were never purchased or for which financing was obtained both from a credit union and the car dealership for the same car.

Evidence presented at trial and sentencing showed that his scheme to defraud involved coercing women through repeated sexual, physical, and mental abuse. He used the proceeds of the scheme to buy luxury goods, even though he was over $100,000 in default for child support judgments for his 22 children. His proceeds from the scheme exceeded $1.7 million.

On March 21, 2025, a federal jury convicted Camp on 19 charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and false representation of a social security number.

"Dion Camp's fraudulent scheme inflicted lasting harm on victims who entrusted him with their financial futures," said Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "Victims of identity theft often spend years rebuilding their credit and restoring their financial stability. This sentence demonstrates the seriousness of these crimes and sends a clear message that financial exploitation carries substantial and lasting consequences."

"Dion Camp preyed on women who were seeking connection and companionship, exploiting their trust to steal their identities and cause lasting financial and emotional harm," said Dominique Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Norfolk Field Office. "The victims in this case were manipulated through false relationships and left to rebuild their lives after being deceived. Today's sentence reflects the seriousness of these crimes and affirms that those who abuse trust for personal gain will be held accountable. The FBI remains committed to standing with victims and aggressively pursuing those who commit romance scams and identity fraud."

Camp obtained an American Express card using a victim's personal identifying information without her knowledge. He also obtained supplemental American Express cards from the accounts of other victims using the Social Security number of an individual who had never met or had any relationship with Camp.

Camp applied for a property rental in Virginia Beach using a false Social Security number, a fake credit report with a highly inflated credit score, and a false IRS business tax filing that showed that his alleged house flipping business, Camp Investments LLC, made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Gantt prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 2:23-cr-63.

United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia published this content on January 16, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 02, 2026 at 14:36 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]