A 57-year-old Nigerian, Oluseun Martins Omole, has pleaded guilty to fraud in a United States court.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that the suspected made the plea on Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his participation in a widespread scheme to defraud thousands of victims in the United States and elsewhere of thousands of consumer electronics and other goods totalling more than $12 million.
He pleaded guilty before Judge Katharine H. Parker.
According to the allegations contained in the indictment and complaint, the plea agreement, and other public filings and statements made in court:
From at least in or about February 2018 through at least in or about March 2023, Omole participated in a criminal enterprise based in Nigeria (the “Enterprise”), which orchestrated various scams to defraud thousands of victims in the United States and elsewhere of more than $12 million in consumer electronics, including smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, and tablets, among other items. The scams perpetrated by the members of the Enterprise included (i) romance scams, in which Enterprise members sent electronic communications to victims feigning romantic intentions, gained their trust and affection, and took advantage of that goodwill to induce victims into sending consumer electronics and other money or property to Omole; (ii) online marketplace scams, in which Enterprise members sent electronic communications to victims feigning interest in buying consumer electronics, falsely represented to the victim that the items had been paid for, and instructed the victim to send the consumer electronics to Omole; and (iii) employment scams, in which Enterprise members posted phony jobs online and informed unwitting victims that they were hired before instructing victims to send electronics to OMOLE under the guise that those electronics were needed for the job (together, the “Fraudulent Electronics Scams”).
During the relevant time period, Omole owned and operated a business corporation named Tobylink Impessions, Inc., a/k/a Tobylink Impressions, Inc. (“Tobylink”), which claimed to be a distributor, re-seller, and supplier of satellite communications equipment. In reality, however, Tobylink served as a vehicle through which OMOLE received thousands of fraudulently obtained goods from victims of the Enterprise before repackaging and shipping those items to various co-conspirators located in Nigeria. During his participation in the conspiracy, OMOLE received and sent more than $12 million in consumer electronics and other items to other members of the Enterprise, in exchange for the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars in fees that OMOLE charged other Enterprise members.
Omole of Sugar Land, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He agreed to pay restitution in an amount to be ordered by the Court and to forfeit an amount to be ordered by the Court, as well as various consumer electronics and other goods seized by law enforcement.
His sentencing is scheduled for July 30, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.
