Two Nigerian nationals, Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, are facing up to 20 years each in a US prison after being convicted of orchestrating a $560,000 romance scam.
According to a statement released by the US Attorney’s Office, the duo, along with other accomplices, used a fabricated identity, “Glenn Brown,” on the dating website (link unavailable) to establish a romantic relationship with a victim in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The scammers convinced the victim that they needed financial assistance to complete a construction project in Malaysia and return safely to the US. The victim sent approximately $560,000 to various accounts in the US, Canada, and
The investigation revealed that Daramola and Ogunlaja played key roles in the scam, with Daramola supplying bank accounts for the scheme and Ogunlaja using his Bank of America account to receive fraudulent funds.
The duo’s conviction comes after a four-day trial and less than three hours of jury deliberation. They are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.
