Three Nigerians – Damilola Lawal, Idowu Ademola Raji and Akolade Ojo – have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States over $3.5 million wire fraud and related offences.
The trio aged 30 – 39 years were accused of plotting to obtain the funds from businesses and financial institutions through fraudulent schemes.
According to CBS Baltimore, they were charged with federal wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, passport fraud, and aggravated identity theft in a 12-count indictment that was returned on October 26 and unsealed on November 4 during their initial court appearances.
They were said to have conspired with four others to defraud businesses and financial institutions by allegedly using false, forged and counterfeited passports and other identification documents to create limited liability companies and open fraudulent bank accounts using stolen identities.
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The defendants then allegedly used a messaging app to communicate about financial transactions directing members regarding the deposit, withdrawal, transfer, and conversion of fraudulently obtained funds.
In one incident on Sept. 27, 2019, a co-conspirator sent a victim a fraudulent e-mail purporting to be from the victim’s attorney, advising the victim to send a $65,000 wire transfer to an account controlled by another co-conspirator as a part of a real estate purchase.
Using a messaging app, they sent photographs and messages to show the victim was making the wire transfer. Once the money arrived, one of the co-conspirators was asked to obtain a cashier’s check and make cash withdrawals.
The accused persons face up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted.