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Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, both Nigerians based in the United States, are facing a combined 40-year prison sentence for their roles in a romance scam.
The conviction follows a four-day trial and less than three hours of deliberation, according to a statement from US Attorney Alexander Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, shared by the Department of Justice.
Court documents revealed that the scam began in January 2016, with the creation of a fake persona, “Glenn Brown,” on the dating site eHarmony.com. Ogunlaja and Daramola worked alongside an accomplice who used the fabricated profile to establish a romantic connection with a victim in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The victim was then persuaded to send money for a supposed construction project in Malaysia, which was falsely presented as essential for “Glenn Brown” to return safely to the US.
Between January 2016 and April 2017, the victim sent around $560,000 to various accounts in the US, Canada, and Malaysia. In one instance, on September 27, 2016, the victim transferred about $28,000 to a Woodforest Bank account in the name of Daramola Cars, as instructed by the fraudulent persona. Daramola then transferred $18,000 to a seafood importer in Denmark and issued a $14,000 check.
Daramola denied any involvement in the scam, but the FBI investigation uncovered significant evidence, including text and WhatsApp messages on his phone linking him to multiple fraud schemes, including the romance scam. Ogunlaja was found to have used his Bank of America account to receive fraudulent funds, with the victim depositing $20,000 cash into Ogunlaja’s account in March 2016, following instructions from “Glenn Brown.” Ogunlaja later withdrew the funds and transferred them to Daramola’s account.
Following the trial, the court ordered Ogunlaja and Daramola to remain on release conditions pending sentencing, though a date has not yet been set. Both face up to 20 years in prison without parole at sentencing.
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