Wednesday, January 8, 2025 - Two Nigerian nationals, Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, each face up to 20 years in a United States prison after being convicted by a federal jury for orchestrating a $560,000 international romance scam.
The Department of Justice announced this in a statement released on
Monday, January 6, 2025.
“Following a four-day trial and less than three hours of deliberation, a
federal jury returned a guilty verdict against two Nigerian nationals who
participated in an international romance scheme,” the statement read.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the
scheme, which began in January 2016, involved the creation of a fictitious
persona named "Glenn Brown" on the dating website eHarmony.com.
Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, both Nigerian
nationals, worked with another individual who used this fake profile to
initiate a romantic relationship with a victim in Albuquerque, New Mexico and
subsequently request money from them.
Throughout the course of the fraud, the victim was led to believe that
their financial assistance was necessary for “Glenn Brown” to complete a
purported construction project in Malaysia and return safely to the United
States.
The victim sent approximately $560,000 to various accounts in the United
States, Canada, and Malaysia between January 2016 and April 2017. On September
27, 2016, the victim wired approximately $28,000 to a Woodforest Bank account
in the name of Daramola Cars, as instructed by the fraudulent "Glenn
Brown" persona. Daramola subsequently wired $18,000 to a seafood importer
in Denmark and issued a check for $14,000.
Daramola denied any knowledge of the romance scheme, however the FBI's
investigation uncovered extensive evidence, including text and WhatsApp
correspondence on Daramola's phone, revealing his role as a provider of bank
accounts for various fraud schemes including romance fraud schemes.
Ogunlaja's nvolvement included using his Bank of America account for
receiving fraudulent funds. Specifically, on March 9 and March 15, 2016, “Glenn
Brown” instructed the victim to deposit $20,000 cash into Ogunlaja's
account.
Following these deposits, Ogunlaja made multiple cash withdrawals and
transfers to Daramola's account.
Following the verdict, the Court ordered that Ogunlaja and Daramola
remain on conditions of release pending sentencing, which has not been
scheduled.
At sentencing, Ogunlaja and Daramola each face up to 20 years in prison.
There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in
Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement on Tuesday,
January 7.
The FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated the case while Assistant
U.S. Attorney Jeremy Peña is prosecuting the case.
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