The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced the arrest of a U.S.-based convicted Nigerian fraudster, Rotimi Oladimeji, in New Orleans.
The ICE announced Oladimeji’s arrest in a post on its verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, where it labelled Oladimeji as a “criminal alien” with a criminal history including mail and wire fraud.
“Nigerian criminal alien Rotimi Oladimeji’s criminal history includes mail and wire fraud. He was ordered to pay $1.1M+ in restitution before ICE New Orleans arrested him,” the post read.
The U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel in December 2023 sentenced Oladimeji to three years in prison for helping other Nigerian internet fraudsters to scam nearly $1.2 million out of a St. Louis area woman.
The court also ordered Oladimeji to repay the victim over $1.1 million.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri, Oladimeji, 38 years old as of December 2023, and a resident of Texas, assisted other scammers in Nigeria and the United States to scam the victim, “who thought she was in an online romance with a veterinarian and animal behaviorist living in St. Louis.”
A scammer was said to have spotted the victim on an online dating site, after which, Oladimeji and his co-conspirators began an online relationship with her.
“They made plans to meet with her but never followed through, once leaving her waiting at the Missouri Botanical Garden,” the Attorney’s Office stated.
In October of 2019, Oladimeji claimed the veterinarian was going to Dubai, and said he wouldn’t be allowed to leave unless she sent money.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Oladimeji and his co-conspirators continued to make request after request of the victim “for four and five-figure sums”, according to court records.
It was said that Oladimeji made the victim send cash and cashier’s checks via FedEx to the Texas home of his co-defendant, one Olumide Akrinmade, then 38 years old, and a resident of Richardson, Texas.
“Oladimeji had recruited Akrinmade and Adewale Adesanya, another Texas resident, to receive the funds.
“In all, the victim lost nearly $1.17 million. Oladimeji received 20% of the funds he generated,” the Attorney’s Office stated.
The statement noted that money mules who transmitted the fraudulent proceeds to people like Oladimeji, Akinrinmade, and Adesanya received 20% of the funds they forwarded.
“The remaining amount went to scammers in Nigeria,” it said.
Oladimeji pleaded guilty in December 2022 to two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
Also, Akrinmade pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and he was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to repay $46,500.
Similarly, Adesanya pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Dallas and was sentenced to four years in prison.
He was also ordered to repay $1.5 million resulting from both romance fraud and a business email compromise scheme.
The Office noted then in December 2023 that Oladimeji, born in Lagos state, Nigeria, could be deported after his release from prison.
However, with the announcement of the fresh arrest of Oladimeji by the ICE, it is not yet clear what happened to his three-year jail term.