Oyindamola Akinrinola, 23, a Nigerian resident of Lawrence, Kansas, has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in online fraud schemes that targeted victims in the United States.
U.S. Attorney
Stephen McAllister announced her conviction Monday night, saying she will now
face time in federal prison for her crime.
“Akinrinola
and her co-conspirator in Nigeria victimised individuals, several elderly,
through a variety of online scams,” he said.
“We will
continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prioritise the
investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes like these, no matter where they
originate.
“I also take
this conviction as an opportunity to reiterate to all Kansans the vulnerability
of our senior citizens to scams and con artists, who prey upon them.
“We must all
be vigilant to protect our parents, grandparents, elderly relatives, friends
and neighbours from such frauds and fraudsters.”
“Scams such
as lottery, online dating, and impersonating Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
employees continue to be a major threat to taxpayers, especially senior
citizens,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration.
“Scammers
will use a variety of techniques to cheat taxpayers. TIGTA will do everything
within its power to ensure that those involved in the impersonation of IRS
employees are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“We appreciate the assistance of the U.S.
Department of Justice in this effort,” McAllister said.
According to
the charges, Akinrinola, who was granted legal permanent residency in the
United States in 2018, was part of a scheme to defraud U.S.-based victims out
of money and property.
Akinrinola’s
co-conspirator in Nigeria orchestrated several scams, such as tricking victims
into believing they were eligible for fictitious awards or establishing
purported (but false) romantic relationships with victims and exploiting their
affections.
The
co-conspirator in Nigeria directed victims to send money to Akinrinola. While
in Kansas as a college student, she received funds from the scam victims—in
amounts ranging from hundreds of dollars to as much $20,000—via wire transfers,
money orders, financial applications, Wal-Mart money grams, Western Union, the
United States Postal Service, and various other means.
Akinrinola
kept a portion for herself as her reward and sent the bulk of the funds to her
co-conspirator in Nigeria. To do so, she generally used the Sendwave,
WorldRemit, or Boss Revolution mobile applications.
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