Cyber-Fortunes to Prison: Nigerian’s $1.4M Web Scam Nets 10-Year Sentence
A Nigerian citizen, Olugbenga Lawal, has been sentenced to 10 years and 1 month in prison for conspiring to launder millions of dollars stolen from elderly American victims by internet fraudsters.
Lawal, 41, was a known member of the Nigerian criminal. According to the investigation, the funds Lawal dealt with were stolen between January 2019 and June 2020.
Elder financial exploitation, a form of financial exploitation targeting individuals aged 60 and older, involves scenarios where their financial assets, savings, or personal identification information are criminally misused, often without their explicit knowledge or consent.
The criminals gained the trust of their victims online, posing as potential romantic partners, investors, or government officials.
Lawal controlled several bank accounts across five American financial institutions, where the stolen millions were deposited. Over two years, more than $3.6 million passed through his accounts.
He converted the stolen money into Nigerian currency and sent it to accomplices in his home country. Other methods included purchasing vehicles in the U.S. and exporting them to Africa.
As noted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Lawal’s high status within the criminal structure is evidenced by the fact that he received money directly from the victims of fraud, as well as from lower-ranking members of the group.
In addition to his prison sentence, the court ordered Lawal to pay $1.46 million in restitution to the victims.
Three of Lawal’s accomplices – Dwight Baines, Rita Assane, and Michael Hermann – previously pleaded guilty to financial fraud and agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
According to the FBI, in 2022, more than 88,000 elderly Americans fell victim to internet fraudsters, suffering collective losses of $3.1 billion – an 84% increase from 2021. The average loss per victim exceeded $35,000, with over 5,000 individuals losing amounts exceeding $100,000.
Financial crimes of this nature remain a serious issue for the U.S. and other countries. Law enforcement agencies continue to combat fraudulent schemes aimed at deceiving and stealing funds from older individuals. The U.S. Department of Justice considers Lawal’s case a significant precedent in countering such threats.
