Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja and Abel Adeyi Daramola, Nigerian Nationals, will be sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison for their roles in a romance scam.
US Attorney Alexander Uballez and FBI Albuquerque Field Office Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said in a statement released by the Department of Justice that both Nigerians were found guilty after a four-day trial and less than three hours of deliberation.
According to court filings and evidence used during the trial, the scam started in January 2016 and involves creating a false profile on the dating website eHarmony.com called “Glenn Brown.”
The statement said, in part, that Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, both Nigerian nationals, collaborated with another person who used this fictitious profile to start a romantic relationship with a victim in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then demand money from them.
The victim was misled throughout the scam into thinking that “Glenn Brown” needed their money to finish a fictitious construction project in Malaysia and make a safe return to the United States.
Between January 2016 and April 2017, the victim transferred about $560,000 to different accounts in the US, Canada, and Malaysia.
Following instructions from the false “Glenn Brown” persona, the victim sent about $28,000 to a Woodforest Bank account under the name Daramola Cars on September 27, 2016. Daramola then sent a check for $14,000 and wired $18,000 to a Danish seafood merchant.
Although Daramola denied knowing about the romance scam, the FBI claimed that their investigation had found a lot of evidence, including WhatsApp and text messages on Daramola’s phone, that showed he was supplying bank accounts for a number of fraud schemes, including romance scams.
One aspect of Ogunlaja’s involvement was receiving bogus money through his Bank of America account.
In particular, the FBI claimed that “Glenn Brown” gave the victim instructions to deposit $20,000 into Ogunlaja’s account on March 9 and March 15, 2016.
Ogunlaja made several cash withdrawals and transfers to Daramola’s account after these deposits.
Ogunlaja and Daramola were placed on terms of release by the court after the verdict, pending the date of sentencing, which has not yet been set.
– Deeprows News
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