Nigerian gets 34 years jail term for defrauding US charities, senior citizens

Babatope Joseph Aderinoye, a Nigerian living in the US, has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars from several people.

Aderinoye, 30, also scammed a charity based in Fort Worth, Texas, of $100,000.

According to Fox4news, his fraud scheme targeted senior citizens, a north Texas school district, and the Fort Worth charity which provides financial aid to families of terminally ill patients.

Kristina Robertson, founder of the charity, said her bank had noticed a suspicious email request for a transfer.

“I think he was just fishing and kind of seeing who he could catch,” she said.

“I think we were very naive at the time thinking that it would not happen to us even though we were taking what we thought were appropriate procedures. They weren’t enough.”

The FBI said Aderinoye stole more than $6.7 million from his victims and used fake passports to set up 13 fake businesses and 40 bank accounts.

Aderinoye and his accomplices were said to have encouraged their victims to wire money which they subsequently transferred to a Nigerian bank account.

He was said to have unsuccessfully attempted to steal money from a school district. The school thwarted his attempt and reported him to the authorities, which resulted in the FBI’s investigation.

Nicholas Ganjei, the acting US attorney, said the fraud committed by Aderinoye is a threat to the country’s financial system.

He said: “The types of fraud committed by Mr. Aderinoye and his co-conspirators not only have lasting ramifications for the affected victims but also threaten the integrity of our country’s financial systems.”

“While today’s sentence is a decisive victory for the victims of Mr. Aderinoye and his co-conspirators, the overall fight against cyber fraud continues.  EDTX will do everything in its power to bring other cybercriminals to justice, and to recover ill-gotten gains for those victimized.”

Apart from the 34-year jail sentence, Aderinoye was also ordered to pay $2 million.