Following a four-day trial, a federal jury has found two Nigerian nationals guilty of participating in an international romance scheme. The verdict was reached after less than three hours of deliberation.
Court documents and evidence presented at the trial revealed that the scheme began in January 2016 with the creation of a fictitious persona named "Glenn Brown" on eHarmony.com. Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, both Nigerian nationals, collaborated with another individual who used this fake profile to initiate a romantic relationship with a victim in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The victim was subsequently persuaded to send money under the pretense that it was needed for “Glenn Brown” to complete a construction project in Malaysia and return to the United States.
Between January 2016 and April 2017, the victim sent approximately $560,000 to various accounts across the United States, Canada, and Malaysia. On September 27, 2016, they wired about $28,000 to a Woodforest Bank account under Daramola Cars as directed by "Glenn Brown." Daramola then transferred $18,000 to a seafood importer in Denmark and issued a check for $14,000.
Daramola denied knowledge of the scheme; however, an FBI investigation uncovered substantial evidence from text messages and WhatsApp correspondence on his phone indicating his role in providing bank accounts for fraud schemes. Ogunlaja's involvement included using his Bank of America account to receive fraudulent funds. On March 9 and March 15, 2016, “Glenn Brown” instructed the victim to deposit $20,000 cash into Ogunlaja's account. After these deposits were made, Ogunlaja withdrew cash and transferred funds to Daramola’s account.
The court ordered that Ogunlaja and Daramola remain on conditions of release pending sentencing. Each faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing.
"There is no parole in the federal system," stated U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez during today's announcement alongside Raul Bujanda from the FBI Albuquerque Field Office.
The case was investigated by the FBI Albuquerque Field Office with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Peña prosecuting.