Two Nigerian nationals, Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja, 39, and Abel Adeyi Daramola, 37, have been convicted for their roles in a romance scam that defrauded a victim of approximately $560,000. The duo now face up to 20 years in prison each, following a trial and swift jury deliberation in the United States.
The scheme, which began in January 2016, involved the creation of a fictitious persona named “Glenn Brown” on the dating platform eHarmony. Using this fake identity, the perpetrators built a romantic relationship with a victim from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The victim was deceived into believing that “Glenn Brown” needed financial assistance to complete a construction project in Malaysia and return to the U.S. Between January 2016 and April 2017, the victim sent approximately $560,000 to bank accounts in the U.S., Canada, and Malaysia.
A $28,000 wire transfer in September 2016 to a Woodforest Bank account under “Daramola Cars,” from which Daramola redirected $18,000 to a seafood importer in Denmark; Two $20,000 cash deposits into Ogunlaja’s Bank of America account in March 2016, followed by cash withdrawals and transfers to Daramola’s account.
The FBI investigation uncovered incriminating WhatsApp messages and text correspondence on Daramola’s phone, exposing his role in managing accounts for fraud schemes. Ogunlaja’s account activity also directly linked him to the fraudulent transactions.
Despite Daramola’s denial of involvement, the evidence proved otherwise. After a four-day trial and less than three hours of jury deliberation, both defendants were convicted.
Both Ogunlaja and Daramola remain on release conditions pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled. If given the maximum penalty, each could face 20 years in prison without parole.
