Two Nigerian nationals, Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja (39) and Abel Adeyi Daramola (37), face up to 20 years in a U.S. prison after being convicted for orchestrating a $560,000 romance scam.
According to a statement by U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez and FBI Special Agent Raul Bujanda, the pair were found guilty after a four-day trial and less than three hours of jury deliberation. The convictions stem from a scheme they initiated in January 2016, using a fake identity, “Glenn Brown,” on the dating platform eHarmony.com to defraud a victim in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Prosecutors revealed that Ogunlaja, Daramola, and their accomplices fabricated a romantic relationship with the victim, convincing them to send money under the pretense of helping “Glenn Brown” complete a construction project in Malaysia and return to the United States.
Between January 2016 and April 2017, the victim transferred approximately $560,000 to accounts in the U.S., Canada, and Malaysia. This included a $28,000 wire transfer to a Woodforest Bank account under Daramola Cars, with funds later sent to Denmark and issued via check.
Daramola denied involvement, but text and WhatsApp messages on his phone revealed his role in providing bank accounts for the fraud. Ogunlaja’s Bank of America account was used to receive fraudulent funds, including two cash deposits of $20,000 each in March 2016. Ogunlaja later withdrew and transferred these funds to Daramola’s account.
This case follows a November 2024 report detailing how two other Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, received a combined 30-year prison sentence for defrauding U.S. citizens of $3.5 million in a similar romance scam.
The convictions highlight the ongoing efforts of U.S. authorities to combat international fraud schemes targeting vulnerable victims.
