Court docs: Woman paid $400K in romance scheme, ‘money mules’ charged
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Four people accused of defrauding thousands of dollars from people who are elderly or vulnerable have been charged.
All four have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, according to court documents: Fatai Okunola, a citizen of Nigeria who lives in the Kalamazoo area; Oluwaseyi Ayobami Adeola, a naturalized United States citizen from Nigeria living in the Battle Creek area; Ijeoma Omolola Adeola, the wife of Oluwaseyi Ayobami Adeola and a citizen of Nigeria living in the Battle Creek area; and Cory McDougal, a United States citizen living in the Kalamazoo area.
Oluwaseyi Ayobami Adeola has also been charged with unlawful procurement of naturalization and could have his citizenship revoked, while Okunola has been charged with false statement relating to naturalization.
Authorities say between at least 2015 and up to December 2023, the four worked with co-conspirators living outside of the United States to defraud people. The co-conspirator would contact the victims under false pretenses and would convince the victims to send money to the four defendants.
The defendants were “money mules” and would send the money to each other and their co-conspirators, court documents allege.
One victim was a woman whose husband of 26 years died in 2011. While on a dating website in 2018, she was befriended by a “Robert Johnson,” who was actually a co-conspirator with the four defendants.
He told her he was from Holland but was working in Italy on a construction project. He asked her to send money for the project, claiming his credit cards were locked, court documents say.
“Robert Johnson” told the victim he’d meet her once he came back to Michigan. The co-conspirator used voice-internet-protocol technology, or VOIP, to spoof a 616 area code.
He asked her to deposit $10,000 into McDougal’s bank account, then later asked her to deposit $8,000, court documents say.
“Robert Johnson” continued to “make false representations to (the victim) about the construction project and his promises of a romantic relationship” throughout 2018, court documents say.
Court documents say in total, the victim transferred around $400,000, using funds that included her retirement savings and credit card loans.
Another victim was an elderly woman from Muskegon. According to court documents, she received a message from someone named “Melissa” in February of this year. The victim had a good friend named Melissa who she met while living in Germany with her late husband, who served in the United States Air Force.
“Melissa” asked the victim to send a total of $1,700 in blank money orders to a P.O. box registered to Okunola.
Other victims include a reporter from New York looking for an apartment for an internship, a 61-year-old man who participated in a remote online marriage ceremony and a veteran who was told he was eligible for a grant, court documents say.
If convicted, the four defendants could be ordered to forfeit at least $2.5 million.
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