U.S. Attorney’s Office Seeks To Identify Potential Victims Of Internet Fraud Scheme With Links To Nigeria

The scheme operated for years in West Michigan and throughout the United States

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten today announced that the office is seeking to identify victims of a nationwide internet fraud scheme that operated for several years and defrauded victims of more than $2 million dollars. A grand jury recently returned an indictment charging four individuals with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to the fraud scheme. Those individuals are: Fatai Okunola, 37, of Kalamazoo, Michigan; Oluwaseyi Adeola, 33, and Ijeoma Adeola, 35, of Dallas, Texas; and Cory McDougal, 32, of Romeoville, Illinois. Oluwaseyi Adeola and Okunola also face charges related to their naturalization or attempt to naturalize as United States’ citizens.

          According to allegations in the indictment, the defendants conspired with individuals primarily in Nigeria to defraud individuals in the United States, many that were elderly or particularly vulnerable, through a variety of fraud schemes using interstate wire transmissions or the mail system. The conspirators in Nigeria created false online personas to develop relationships with their victims over the internet, through social media, by text messages or by telephone. These relationships centered around romantic interests, offers to buy or sell goods or services, apartment rentals, or offers to make loans or provide grant funding, among other schemes. The conspirators sent pictures or provided other information to the victims to make their schemes appear genuine. When the conspirators used telephone calls, they utilized voice-over-internet-protocol numbers to make it appear as if the calls were originating within the United States near the victims. After developing the relationships, the conspirators asked for money for a variety of reasons related to the scheme.

          Once the victim agreed, the conspirators directed the victims to send the money to the defendants, who opened numerous bank accounts in the Western District of Michigan and other places to receive the victims’ money. On some occasions, the defendants received the victims’ money in post office boxes maintained under alias names or through payments made payable to “shell” businesses that the defendants created to receive fraud proceeds. The victims sent the money to the defendants through the mail, bank-to-bank transfers, or through peer-to-peer money transfer services like Zelle or PayPal. After the defendants received the money in their accounts, they transferred the money to each other, to the conspirators overseas, and to their own accounts in Nigeria. According to the indictment, defendants received more than $2 million dollars in their accounts from the scheme between 2017 and 2022.

          The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the investigative agencies are working to identify other individuals, nationwide, who may have been victimized by the same fraud conspiracy. The defendants utilized the following Post Office Boxes, emails, business names, and false personas to carry out the scheme:

Post Office Boxes

P.O. Box 19216, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49019

P.O. Box 2115, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49003

Businesses

Shyon’s Auto

Fatjas Import & Export

Lola Adeola Jeweleries

Choices Auto

CJ’s Shoe Rejuvination

Email Addresses

Fatairemix1@gmail.com

Omololaphlex@yahoo.com

pshyon@yahoo.com

corymc1991@gmail.com

False Personas of Alleged Fraudsters

Robert Johnson

John Stevenson

Gaurav Dewan

Akarsh Sahil

Koti Constance Malia

Timothy Jacob

Amanda Lynn Contreas

Tushar Khade

Brandon Johnson

Gaurav Gupta

Gaurav Santosh

James Mason

Luciano Rossi

          If you believe you are a victim in this case, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmi/victim-and-witness-assistance-program/vw-large-cases/okunola or contact Breane Warner, Victim Assistance Specialist, at (616) 808-2064.

          Federal law enforcement provides a number of tips on how to protect yourself from similar internet or email scams, including:

1. Be cautious of unsolicited phone calls, e-mails, and mailings.
2. Never give or send any sensitive information (including your date of birth, account numbers, or passwords), credit or debit card numbers, or money to unverified people or businesses.
3. Resist the pressure to act quickly.  Scammers create a false sense of urgency to lure people to immediate action. 
4. If you recognize a scam attempt, immediately end all communication with the perpetrator.

          This case is being investigated by the Grand Rapids offices of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Stella is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

          The charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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