ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced a man who helped scam nearly $1.2 million out of a St. Louis area woman to three years in prison and ordered him to repay the money.
Rotimi Oladimeji, 38, of Texas, assisted other scammers in Nigeria and the United States prey on the victim, who thought she was in an online romance with a veterinarian and animal behaviorist living in St. Louis.
After a scammer spotted the victim on the “Silver Singles” online dating site, 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. In October of 2019, Oladimeji claimed the veterinarian was going to Dubai, then said he wouldn’t be allowed to leave unless she sent money. They continued to make request after request of the victim for four and five-figure sums, court records show.
Oladimeji had the victim send cash and cashier’s checks via FedEx to the Texas home of his co-defendant, Olumide Akrinmade, now 38, 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. As 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.
Oladimeji was born in Lagos, Nigeria and could be deported after his release from prison.
Oladimeji pleaded guilty in December of 2022 to two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
Akrinmade, now 38, pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to repay $46,500.
Adesanya pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Dallas and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was also ordered to repay $1.5 million that resulted from the romance fraud as well as a business email compromise scheme.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.
For information about how to spot and guard against romance scams, go to ice.gov/features/romance-scams.
