Three Nigerians have been imprisoned in the United States for their role in a long-running fraud operation that typically targeted elderly victims, according to authorities.
Fatai Okunola, 38, of Kalamazoo, was sentenced to slightly over ten years in prison for his involvement in the conspiracy and compelled to pay over $730,000 in restitution.
Okunola was sentenced to five years for making false representations during naturalization and ten years for money laundering, with both terms running consecutively.
Two Dallas people were also sentenced. Oluwaseyi Adeola, 34, was sentenced to nearly three years in jail and forced to pay over $410,000 in reparations.
Ijeoma Adeola, 36, was sentenced to three years probation for misprision of a felony and ordered to pay slightly less than $49,000 in restitution.
The defendants worked with persons in Nigeria to defraud Americans, many of whom were old or vulnerable.
The Nigerian partners employed fictitious personas to establish contacts with victims via the internet, social media, text, or phone, before soliciting money from them.
Victims were urged to pay money to the defendants, who created various bank accounts and kept P.O. boxes under aliases and shell companies.
The accused then distributed the money among themselves and their Nigerian associates.
Okunola also utilized some monies to help people buy automobiles in the United States and bring them to Nigeria.
Between 2017 and 2022, the scheme amassed over $2 million.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten stated, “Financial fraud is not a ‘faceless’ crime — and today’s sentencings help secure a measure of justice for the victims of this international fraud scheme.”
He added that some victims “lost their retirement savings, took loans against their homes, or suffered other financial distress because of the defendants’ lies.”
Totten underlined that the defendants used contemporary technologies, such as the internet and social media platforms, to prey on old and vulnerable people.
