US
jails Nigerian 27 years for $1.7m internet scam
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| Olayinka-Ilumsa-Sunmola |
Lagos-born Sunmola, who was the ringleader of a love
scam organisation based in South Africa, was also ordered to repay $1.7m.
Judge David Herndon of a US district Court in East St.
Louis heard how Sumola and others scammed many American women of millions of
dollars while parading themselves as American soldiers stationed overseas or
engineers working on a large government contract in South Africa.
They cultivated romantic relationships with dozens of
women using pictures of men they found online, sometimes pictures of dead
servicemen from memorial websites.
Prosecutors said Sumola’s activities drove some to
bankruptcy and at least one to the brink of suicide.
The 33-year-old showered the women with poetry, cards,
flowers, stuffed animals and chocolates until he has successfully entrapped
them.
Once his target his entrapped, Sunmola began to
manufacture emergencies, each of which required increasingly large amounts of
money from his victims.
Sunmola used their money for lavish parties, two Range
Rovers, four properties in South Africa and a $363,000 home in Nigeria,
prosecutors said.
 |
| Olayinka-Ilumsa-Sunmola |
A federal grand jury sitting in East St. Louis indicted
Sunmola in November 2013 on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and
interstate extortion.
After two days of a jury trial, Sunmola pleaded guilty
to eight felonies, including mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and interstate
extortion.
In his ruling
Judge Herndon said,
“‘Conspiracy,’ ‘mail and wire fraud,’ and ‘interstate extortion’ hardly sound
like the kinds of crimes that leave broken lives, wrecked women, fractured
families, devastation, desires to die, humiliation and shame so extreme.
“But then, his charm turned to bullying, name calling,
extortion, unthinkable demands and threats. Thoughts of paradise turned into
thoughts of hell and, for some, thoughts of suicide. The most devastating crime
one could ever imagine without laying hands or even eyes on another human
being.”
When Sunmola completes his 27-year prison term, he will
be deported to Nigeria.
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