Olumide Olorunfunmi, a Nigerian national, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina. The case, involving millions of dollars laundered, was linked to romance scams and business email compromise schemes. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson made the announcement, highlighting that the scams impacted over 125 victims and resulted in the transfer of more than $4.5 million.
Robert M. DeWitt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina joined Attorney Ferguson in the announcement. Additionally, two of Olorunfunmi’s co-conspirators, both Nigerian nationals, have also entered guilty pleas. Samson Amos admitted to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, while Emmanuel Unuigbe pleaded guilty to both money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
From 2020 to 2023, Olorunfunmi, Amos, Unuigbe, and others worked together to launder proceeds from illegal activities, including operations targeting elderly victims through fake romantic relationships and business email compromise schemes. These victims were instructed to deposit funds into accounts managed domestically and internationally by Olorunfunmi and his associates. Upon receiving these fraud proceeds, they were further moved to accounts within the United States and abroad.
The conspirators benefited by retaining a portion of the proceeds. They also transferred Nigerian Naira from controlled accounts within Nigeria at a black market exchange rate for U.S. Dollars, effectively paying for domestic deposits received by others involved in the scams.
Money laundering conspiracy carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years, though no sentencing date for Olorunfunmi has been determined. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Ryan will be prosecuting the case.
Business email compromise schemes, often termed as "cyber-enabled financial fraud," involve unauthorized access to legitimate email accounts to manipulate individuals or businesses into making wire transfers to fraudulent accounts. Romance scams involve fraudsters feigning romantic interest to gain a victim’s trust and subsequently request money under false pretenses.
Victims of such scams are encouraged to report incidents to law enforcement through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.