Man pleads guilty in romance scam that tricked Kentucky woman out of $200,000
A man has admitted in federal court to being involved in a coordinated effort that scammed $200,000 from a woman in her 70s who was tricked into believing she was in an online romantic relationship.
Olatunbosun Oluwakayode Ajayi, 38, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to being involved in a money laundering conspiracy.
One of Ajayi’s co-conspirators was Ismaila Fafunmi, an Indianapolis man who pleaded guilty in August to taking part in a money laundering conspiracy. Both Ajaya and Fafunmi are now set to be scheduled later this year, after the trial of another accused co-conspirator.
Fafunmi admitted to being involved in scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from multiple women who believed they were in romantic relationships or giving money to further a federal grant, according to his plea agreement.
Ajayi admitted to working with Fafunmi to receive about $40,000 from the woman in her 70s, according to his plea agreement.
In total, that woman sent around $200,000 in money and items at the direction of a fake online account, according to court records. The account, listed as a man named Thompson Galbraith, was created by those involved in the scam. They used it to have the victim send the items and money to various accounts and people, according to court records.
Ajayi admitted to conspiring with Fafunmi to have the woman send $40,000 to the bank account of a dead man in Hawaii, according to his plea agreement. Once the money was in the account, Ajayi withdrew the funds from that account and put them into another account in Nigeria, where both Ajayi and Fafunmi are from, according to court records.
When sentenced, Ajayi and Fafunmi could each face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000, according to his plea agreement. Ajayi’s plea agreement also notes that restitution to the victim in his case will be “jointly and severally owed” with his co-defendants.
The third co-defendant in the case, Livingstone Otunuya Ineh Eqwem, is set to go to trial in federal court on June 7, according to court records.
The FBI warns that romance scams are a risk on most social media and dating websites. To avoid them, the agency recommends looking in to people before communicating with them online and never sending money to people with whom you’ve only communicated by phone or online.
