Two Nigerian-born men have been sentenced to prison in the United States for their involvement in a sophisticated fraud network that wiped out the life savings of elderly victims nationwide.
Victims, many of them seniors seeking companionship or trying to protect their small businesses, were lured through romance scams and business email compromise schemes that ultimately emptied their bank accounts.
Investigators identified more than 125 victims whose funds were funneled into accounts controlled by the defendants. The stolen money was routed through multiple transfers and international channels aimed at masking its origins.
Prosecutors also revealed that Olorunfunmi and Unuigbe converted part of the criminal proceeds into Nigerian Naira through black-market currency exchanges, profiting from the conversions.
Both men had entered guilty pleas earlier in the year.
A third accomplice, Samson Amos, received a sentence of five years’ probation, including six months of home confinement, and was ordered to pay restitution.
