The indictment revealed that the defendants collectively received over $2 million in their accounts between 2017 and 2022, obtained through fraudulent means.
A US court has sentenced three Nigerian nationals for their involvement in illicit activities.
The indictment revealed that the defendants collectively received over $2 million in their accounts between 2017 and 2022, obtained through fraudulent means.
The US Department of Justice reported that Fatai Okunola, a 38-year-old resident of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has been sentenced to 121 months in prison for his involvement in a fraud conspiracy. Additionally, Okunola has been ordered to pay restitution totaling $731,879.16.
He was additionally sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment for making false statements when seeking naturalization as a U.S. Citizen and 120 months’ imprisonment for committing money laundering with the proceeds from the fraud conspiracy.
The sentences will run concurrently with the sentence for his participation in the conspiracy.
The court also ordered him to report to immigration authorities for deportation following his sentence.
Another Nigerian who was affected by the development is Oluwaseyi Adeola, 34, of Dallas, Texas. He was sentenced to 34 months’ imprisonment for his role in the fraud conspiracy and ordered to pay restitution of $409,968.93.
Ijeoma Adeola, 36, also of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to three years’ probation for misprision of a felony (the failure to report the commission of a felony to appropriate authorities and taking an affirmative step to assist in the concealment of the crime) and ordered to pay restitution of $48,570.
According to the US Justice Department, Cory McDougal, 33, of Romeoville, Illinois, who also pled guilty to the fraud conspiracy, will be sentenced on a later date to be determined by the court.
According to court records, the defendants conspired with individuals primarily in Nigeria to defraud individuals in the United States, many that were elderly or particularly vulnerable, through a variety of fraud schemes using interstate wire transmissions or the mail system.
According to the report, the conspirators in Nigeria created false online personas to develop relationships with their victims over the internet, through social media, by text messages or by telephone.
It said the victims sent the money to the defendants through the mail, bank-to-bank transfers, or through peer-to-peer money transfer services like Zelle or PayPal.
“After the defendants received the money in their accounts, they transferred the money to each other, to the conspirators overseas, and to their own accounts in Nigeria,” it said.
“Fatai Okunola used some of the fraud proceeds he received to assist others in purchasing automobiles in the United States and then exporting them to Nigeria. According to the indictment, defendants received more than $2 million dollars in their accounts from the scheme between 2017 and 2022.
“Our agents will continue the important work of dismantling interstate and international fraud schemes that would seek to rob Americans of their hard-earned money,” said HSI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Angie M. Salazar.
“These cases are too often a reminder for us to check in on elderly family members and members of our community to ensure that they are not taken advantage of by sophisticated schemes.”