Nigerian national Adedunmola Gbadegesin is accused of defrauding elderly victims and money laundering
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Nigerian national was brought from Nigeria to Lexington on Wednesday to face federal charges in a so-called ‘romance scam.’
Prosecutors say 33-year old Adedunmola Gbadegesin, of Lagos, Nigeria, created fake online dating profiles for online dating websites which led to online chats, emails and phone calls with unwitting victims in the United States, including an elderly woman in Lexington.
Prosecutors say victims were convinced to send money to romantic partners who didn’t really exist or give them access to their financial accounts to initiate money transfers.
According to recently unsealed Court documents, a federal grand jury in Lexington returned an indictment charging Gbadegesin alongside two others, 34-year old Olatunbosun Oluwakayode Ajayi, of Atlanta, Georgia, and 45-year old Otunuya Ineh Eqwem Livingstone, of Houston, Texas, with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The indictment alleges that Gbadegesin hired others in the U.S. to receive funds from victims and to launder those funds, so the funds could be returned back to Gbadegesin in Nigeria. Those United States-based money launderers included Ineh Eqwem, Ajayi, and Ismaila Fafunmi.
Fafunmi pleaded guilty to his role in the money laundering scheme; and in August 2021, he received 51 months in prison. Ineh Eqwem and Ajayi have also pleaded guilty…
