Judge Charlotte Sweeney of a United States District Court has sentenced a Nigerian, Adetomiwa Akindele, to five years and 11 months in prison for defrauding an elderly American woman to the tune of $1.6m, with an order that he should be deported upon the completion of his jail term.
This is coming at the height of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on criminal and illegal migrants in the US.
It was learnt in a statement obtained on the website of the US Department of Justice on Thursday that the defendant was also ordered to pay back the sum of $1,692,945 in restitution.
According to the statement, Akindele committed the offence between January and October 2018.
The statement disclosed that the defendant had posed as a wealthy Italian-American businessman known as Frank Labato, and during the period, he contacted the victim with additional background details of his fake identity.
He was said to have lured the victim into sending money to him to sort out a personal financial crisis.
The statement read, “In February 2018, Akindele began emailing the victim, and in March 2018, the two began exchanging telephone calls. During these communications, Akindele provided the victim with additional false details about his personal and work background, as well as images and photos, to substantiate his fictitious persona, “Frank.”
“In March 2018, Akindele represented to the victim that he had encountered a financial crisis related to his purported work abroad, for which he claimed to need money, funds, and assistance from the victim.
“At Akindele’s direction, the victim opened a cryptocurrency exchange account, where she eventually wired over 1.6 million dollars as directed by Akindele.”
The 37-year-old defendant, according to the DoJ, converted the funds into cryptocurrencies and laundered them across multiple crypto addresses before depositing them into his bank accounts.
It continued, “Akindele fraudulently represented to the victim that he would repay her for the requested ‘loans’ to his business.
“Over the course of the scheme, Akindele executed three fraudulent ‘promissory notes’ to reassure the victim that she would be repaid.”
Following his arrest, he was arraigned on two counts bordering on wire fraud and money laundering, which he pleaded guilty to.
Upon his guilty plea, he was sentenced to 71 months (five years and 11 months) imprisonment with an order that he should restitute the same stolen amount to the victim.
The judge also ordered that the convict should be deported to Nigeria upon the completion of his jail term.
“Adetomiwa Seun Akindele, age 37, a Nigerian national who had been residing in Minnesota before his arrest, has been sentenced to 71 months in federal prison, ordered to pay $1,692,945 in restitution, and a forfeiture money judgment in the same amount after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
“Upon serving his sentence, Akindele will be deported to Nigeria,” the statement noted.
Akindele’s conviction joined the list of Nigerians who have been criminally convicted for different crimes in the US.
According to PUNCH Metro, on Tuesday a US District Court sentenced a Nigerian, Ehis Akhimie, to eight years and one month imprisonment for his role in a $6 million inheritance fraud that targeted no fewer than 400 elderly victims.
The US DoJ had noted that Akhime was sentenced on September 11 after he was found guilty of his involvement in the scheme.
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