A 51-year-old US-based Nigerian, Ronayerin Ogolor, has been sentenced to three years in prison for internet fraud.
Ogolor was sentenced by United States Chief District Judge, Beth Phillips and was told to pay $871,739 in restitution to his 13 victims.
According to Court documents, no fewer than 13 victims in United States and Italy each wired tens of thousands of dollars to Ogolor.
In one of the cases, an Indiana widow who received friend request on Facebook was made to believe that one of Ogolor’s accomplices whose name is ‘Lawrence Garrison’ is a widower working on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana.
Ogolor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October 2019. He accepted that he was responsible for a scam that targeted elderly singles seeking love through Facebook and dating websites like ChristianMingle.com and LetsHangout.com.
According to the US Department of Justice’s statement since 2013, Ogolor and his accomplices created several online dating profiles then got in touch with men and women throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, ‘with whom they cultivated a sense of affection and often romance.’
After creating relationships with their ‘marks’ through online and phone communication, Ogolor and his patners in crime proceeded to request for money for hospital fees, travel expenses, ‘customs expenses,’ ‘golf import taxes,’ or investment opportunities.
In most cases, after the victims transferred the money, the fraudsters claimed more funds were needed ‘to release the package’ or ‘to pay customs expenses’ on gold or money.
It was gathered that some women sold their personal belongings like houses and cars to raise money for Ogolor and his gang.
Another part of the sprawling fraud was business email hacking, where Ogolor and his partners obtained checks fraudulently from businesses with the help of their innocent victims.
Prosecutors said Ogolor opened several bank accounts in his name and in the names of fake businesses as part of the plan. The victims of the romance fraud paid both their money and money from fake or fraudulently obtained checks into Ogolor’s accounts.
