Most of the money went to other scammers in Nigeria and the United States, the plea says.
ST. LOUIS — A Texas man admitted Monday to targeting a St. Louis woman in a $1.2 million romance scam.
According to a press release, 37-year-old Rotimi Oladimeji pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
Oladimeji admitted that in May of 2019, someone in Nigeria created a fake LinkedIn profile of a veterinarian and animal behaviorist who was allegedly a Belgian national living in St. Louis, according to the release. They also used a picture of a German man.
In August of that year, a St. Louis woman made an online dating profile. Then, Oladimeji and others started contacting her, using the Belgian identity in the following months.
The perpetrators of the fraud made plans to meet the victim, but never followed through, such as on one occasion when they left her waiting at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Oladimeji then told the victim that the Belgian man was taking a business trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, according to the release.
One day after his alleged arrival, Oladimeji texted…
