Thursday, December 4, 2025 - A 26-year-old Nigerian national, Mercy Ojedeji, was sentenced to 41 months in prison in the United States for fraudulently obtaining a student visa, admission to the University of Missouri as well as a Social Security card, a driver license, $49,000 stipend, a bank account and an apartment.
United States District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced
Ojedeji on Monday, December 1, 2025.
According to a press release issued by the U.S Department of
Justice, Ojedeji, also participated in the money mule activities of Shirley
Waller, who is serving a 93-month prison sentence after admitting aiding online
scammers and committing pandemic and mortgage fraud.
The government alleged that Ojedeji and Waller used a
fraudulently opened bank account to funnel the proceeds of Waller’s criminal
activities to Nigeria.
A total of 193 packages were sent to the home Waller and
Ojedeji shared, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued that the total intended
loss of the pair’s activities was more than $1 million, based on the $94,150
contained in the 17 packages seized by law enforcement.
In a letter to Judge Autrey, one victim who lost $47,000 to
the scam described being duped by a tale of a lonely, widowed orthopedic
surgeon working in in a refugee hospital in Jordan.
“It is a terrible shame there are such people existing to
steal money from innocent victims such as myself,” she wrote. Another had their
water cut off for a month due to non-payment after sending money to scammers.
Ojedeji pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court in
St. Louis to one count of unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents and
one count of wire fraud.
He admitted using counterfeit academic transcripts,
recommendations, a resume and a report about his English language proficiency
to obtain a student visa from the University of Missouri and admission to the
chemistry PhD program in the fall of 2023. Ojedeji also obtained a stipend and
a tuition waiver worth more than $49,000.
Ojedeji presented his student visa and other documents to
the Social Security Administration to obtain a Social Security card and used
the fraudulently issued Social Security number and other documents to open a
bank account.
He also used the Social Security number and documents
produced by his paramour, Waller, to rent an apartment. After Ojedeji failed to
attend classes, his assistantship or join a research group, the university
terminated him from the graduate program in January 2024. This also resulted in
the termination of his student visa.
On Feb. 26, 2024, Ojedeji used his fraudulently obtained and
now invalid visa and other documents to obtain a Missouri driver license.
The driver’s license was subsequently used to open the bank
account through which he and Waller forwarded the proceeds of Waller’s money
mule activities.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is charged with
defending the nation’s mail system from illegal use. With the
collaborative efforts of our federal and local law enforcement partners, Postal
Inspectors investigate fraudsters who utilize the U.S. Mail to perpetuate
financial schemes to defraud others in order to enrich themselves. Postal
Inspectors seek justice for victims, including those most vulnerable,” said
Inspector in Charge, Ruth Mendonça, who leads the Chicago Division of the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case,
with the assistance of the FBI and the Town and Country Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.
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