Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja and Abel Adeyi Daramola, two Nigerians living in the United States, will be sentenced to 40 years in prison together for their roles in a romance scam.
Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, and US Attorney Alexander Uballez issued a statement through the Department of Justice stating that the two were found guilty following 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, according to the statement, into thinking that their money was required for “Glenn Brown” 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 allegedly transferred over $560,000 to several accounts in the US, Canada, and Malaysia.
Similarly, on September 27, 2016, the victim allegedly sent about $28,000 to a Woodforest Bank account under the name Daramola Cars, fulfilling the bogus “Glenn Brown” persona’s instructions.
After that, Daramola sent a check for $14,000 and wired $18,000 to a dairy importer.
Though the FBI said that its investigation turned up a wealth of evidence, including WhatsApp and text messages on Daramola’s phone, exposing his role as a supplier of bank accounts for a number of fraud schemes, including romance fraud schemes, Daramola denied any knowledge of the romance scheme.
As part of his involvement, Ogunlaja, the second convicted individual, received stolen payments through his Bank of America account.
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Particularly between March 9 and March 15, 2016, the FBI claims that “Glenn Brown” gave the victim instructions to transfer $20,000 into Ogunlaja’s account.
It was also discovered that Ogunlaja sent money to Daramola’s account and took out several cash withdrawals following the deposits.
After rendering its decision, the court mandated that Ogunlaja and Daramola be placed under terms of release until their sentence, which has not yet been set.
Both Daramola and Ogunlaja could get sentences of up to 20 years in prison without the possibility of release.
