A Nigerian man who defrauded hundreds of lonely U.S. women online was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in federal prison and ordered to repay $1.7 million.

Olayinka Ilumsa Sunmola, of Lagos, bilked dozens of women in Missouri and Illinois alone, driving some to bankruptcy and at least one to the brink of suicide, prosecutors have said.

Sunmola and others would pretend to be members of the U.S. military stationed overseas or businessmen working there, some of whom were widowers with children. They used pictures of men in uniform they found online, sometimes lifting pictures of dead servicemen from memorial websites.

They wooed their "soul mates" via emails, instant messages, flowers, candy and other gifts. Some of the women bought wedding gowns or began to use the fake last names that Sunmola and the others were using. The scammers then began to concoct emergencies that grew ever larger until their victims' assets were gone, prosecutors said.

One Bond County, Ill. woman bankrupted herself buying electronics and shipping them to Sunmola, re-shipping things he bought using stolen credit card numbers and taking out cash advances on a credit card.

A woman identified in court last year only as Jane Doe No. 6 was a recently divorced single mother when she met Sunmola, who was claiming to be a U.S. Army major. She is also partially disabled and a survivor of an abusive relationship.

Sunmola's victims didn't know that credit cards and checks he sent to them were bogus, and that the electronic items were fraudulently purchased. Sometimes victims would be tricked a second time, when contacted by fake foreign “investigators” who demanded thousands of dollars in customs payments to send back items they claimed to have seized.

Sunmola persuaded some victims to send sexually explicit photos or videos, then used them for blackmail. In one case, Sunmola shared the pictures with a victim's relatives even after she paid him, prosecutors said.

While "systematically destroying" the women, Sunmola used their money for lavish parties, two Range Rovers, four properties in South Africa and a $363,000 home in Nigeria, prosecutors said.

After two days of a jury trial in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis in March, Sunmola pleaded guilty to eight felonies, including mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and interstate extortion. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge David Herndon.


Source: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nigerian-man-who-stole-money-from-lonely-missouri-and-illinois/article_1dc9cdfe-4785-538d-9e1d-ca17a7fb23ca.html

[img]http://4.bp..com/-FeZz0chzeAU/WJVqk9lpptI/AAAAAAALkwY/khAHvt42VbwieHNN35chIm3LXJQnuqxNwCLcB/s400/2aa.jpg[/img]

Wehdone sir.

Bad sharp guy.

Eledumare ohhhhhhhh


Now with all the luxury... To what end?? 27 years no be beans ohhhh.

all this scammers giving nigeria a bad name

heart melting story. . . buh for those duped una no dey reason welah?

Any child is free to contact leprosy...so far such a child is ready to leave alone in the forest. Smart guy...now thou shall for the next many years has many hours to realise your intimidating stupidity.

God Bless America

TO THE AFOJAS, THEY ALWAYS REP IN SUCH CASES

Edwinmason:
all this Afonja scammers giving nigeria Oduduwa brown roof republic a bad name

fixed

Name checker association, u r sighted.

agadez007:
fixed

thank bro....i owe you three bottles of origin

Noted.

Awon ti segun wire

100 gullible women.

I doff my hat sir

The problem with these boys is that they dont know when to stop..and they allow the wealth they are getting into their head..

They forgot that if they keep scamming people sooner or later they will have to put a face to the picture..they forget these bank that they withdraw money from have cameras..at the end of the day when they get these money instead of them to quietly spend it or invest in something meaningful they head up to instagram to show off their ill gotten wealth..

Allowing the law enforcement to catch up with dem..i guess they neva learn..

Ok

That's a hell of a talent

na dem

Afon..

Trying to follow Mandela footstep but choosed the wrong bizness path.

afonjas and yahoo.co.uk be like


its our work ooo.....lols

fidel3431:
afonjas and yahoo.co.uk be like


its our work ooo.....lols

Dunce! when did Olayinka Ilumsa Sunmola become a Yoruba name
He is a confirm Hausa man

Op just put it this way. Afonja Man not Nigeria. The none hard working Tribe, but want to reap.

Afonja ne

when it comes to cyber crimes,it is Yoruba.drugs -ibos and terrorism-northerner. Nigeria is just 3 different nations waiting to be explored. let each nation build on these. e. g Yoruba should build cyber gurus and sustain it's fast growing online market like India's and limit cyber crimes while Ibos should enforce murder charges against drug trafficking and northerner build a strong military. Let's just go our separate ways

Nemesis

Unfortunately, other Nigerians will pay for the sins of this spineless coward, on nearly every online international store, I have to mask my location in order to have a transaction or else the seller will never respond, going on eBay, I was about to purchase a gaming system, only to be get smacked in the face. "This seller does not ship to Nigeria" I was crestfallen to find the same message on every other product.
Checking the forums all I found were complaints and insults on Nigeria, as far as one telling the other that nothing good comes out of that "shit hole" and it should be a testing ground for nuclear weapons.
I am ashamed of my country, all I hear and see is bad news in and outside.
That's the link to just one of several forum posts about our cowardly brothers.

https://amp.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1q8u3z/buyer_wants_me_to_send_to_nigeria/