FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Laurel Man Sentenced to Over 19 Years in Federal Prison for Defrauding Victims of Millions of Dollars Through Internet Dating Scam

Members of the Conspiracy Formed Online Romantic Relationships to Entice Victims To Provide Money

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Victor Oyewumi Oloyede, age 42, of Laurel, Maryland today to 234 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiracies to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and for aggravated identity theft arising from a scheme to defraud vulnerable victims of millions of dollars. Judge Grimm also ordered Oloyede to forfeit and pay restitution of $1,641,959.74. Oloyede and three co-conspirators were convicted on November 18, 2016, after a 17-day trial.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to evidence presented at his trial, from January 2011 to May 18, 2015, members of the conspiracy searched online dating websites to initiate romantic relationships with vulnerable male and female individuals. They phoned, emailed, texted and used internet chat messenger services to form romantic relationships with the victims, who lived in Maryland and around the country.

Witnesses testified that members of the conspiracy used false stories and promises to convince the victims to provide money to the conspirators, including fake hospital bills, plane trips to visit the victims, problems with overseas businesses and foreign taxes. Oloyede and other conspirators opened bank accounts, called “drop accounts,” in order to receive millions of dollars from the victims. Testimony at trial showed that victims provided money to the defendants as a result of the false stories and promises, either depositing money directly into drop accounts controlled by the defendants, or by checks sent to the conspirators. The payments from victims ranged from $1,720 to $50,000. Oloyede and others used victims’ names, bank account numbers or driver’s licenses in furtherance of the fraud scheme.

Oloyede and his co-conspirators dispersed money received from the victims by transferring funds to other accounts controlled by the conspirators, by obtaining cashier’s checks, and by writing checks to individuals or entities, in order to conceal the nature, source, and control of those assets.

Gbenga Benson Ogundele, a/k/a “Benson Ogundele,” age 58, of Laurel, Maryland; Babatunde Emmanuel Popoola, a/k/a “Emmanuel Popoola” and “Tunde Popoola, age 34, of Bowie, Maryland; and his sister, Mojisola Tinuola Popoola, a/k/a “Mojisola Oluwakemi Tin Popoola” and “Moji T. Popoola,” age 42, of Laurel, were also convicted for their roles in the fraud scheme. Judge Grimm has scheduled sentencing for Babatunde Popoola on February 22, 2017; and for Mojisola Popoola and Ogundele on March 22, 2017.

The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.

Today’s announcement is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom and Leah Jo Bressack, who are prosecuting the case.

USAO - Maryland
Topic:
Financial Fraud
Updated February 14, 2017

https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/laurel-man-sentenced-over-19-years-federal-prison-defrauding-victims-millions-dollars

Happy Valentines Day! The US Feds got jokes. This was released on valentines day.

Futminna school campus in chaos as the whole hostel is being vandalised after student slum on school pitch nd school clinic treated him with levity and student lost life...
school clinic burnt down...
More news coming shortly

Crime does not pay. Do the crime, do the time. Vanity upon vanity.

I'm waiting for Feb. 22nd.