Two Nigerian fraudsters Opeyemi Abidemi Adeoso, 46 and Benjamin Adeleke Ifebajo, 47, have been sentenced to a combined 22 and half years in the United States for e-mail scam.
They were arrested in DOJ’s Operation reWired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and will spend 22 and half years in federal prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham, announced this on Monday.
Opeyemi Abidemi Adeoso, 46, pleaded guilty in June of 2020 to 17 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of money laundering, six counts of use of a false passport, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He was sentenced Thursday by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn to 151 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $9.3 million in restitution.
His coconspirator, Benjamin Adeleke Ifebajo, 47, pleaded guilty in March 2020 to seven counts of wire fraud, six counts of money laundering, four counts of use of a false passport, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He was sentenced in June to 120 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.1 million in restitution.
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FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Matthew J. DeSarno, said:
These defendants utilized multiple tactics to deceive unsuspecting businesses out of their money. By assuming fictitious identities they defrauded dozens, which risks business health and in turn, erodes overall economic health.
Along with our federal law enforcement partners, we will continue to hold fraudsters accountable for their crimes and the harm they cause.
Agents initiated an investigation into the pair in August 2018, after receiving a report of a business email compromise scheme from a victim who had transferred more than $504,000 into a bank account registered to a “Daniel Sammy Campbell.”
Using the address associated with the account, they traced it back to Mr. Adeoso. Agents then reviewed bank surveillance footage and traced funds to identify Mr. Adeoso and Mr. Ifebajo, Nigerian nationals in the U.S. on non-immigrant vias.
According to court documents, the defendants admitted they used fraudulent passports to open individual bank accounts under assumed names.
Other members of the conspiracy then sent phishing emails – which spoofed the email addresses of victims’ employers, supervisors, and other known business contacts – to numerous individuals prompting them to initiate wire transfers from their personal bank accounts or from their employer’s bank accounts.