Oklahoma man sentenced in connection with Nigerian romance scam

An Oklahoma man was sentenced Friday in the Northern District of Oklahoma to four years in prison for managing a group of money launderers in an online Nigerian romance scam that defrauded multiple victims, including elderly individuals across the United States, and caused losses of at least $2.5 million.

The Court further ordered Afeez Adebara, 36, of Norman, to pay $500, 740 in restitution to the victims of the crime.

“Afeez Adebara led a group of money launderers who bilked unsuspecting victims out of their hard-earned retirement and savings accounts as part of a Nigerian romance scam,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

“This con artist and his cohorts have been brought to justice thanks to the work of the FBI and federal prosecutors Babasijibomi Moore and Chris Nassar,” Johnson said.

Adebara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on Nov. 3, 2020. According to court documents and testimony, between 2017 and November 2019, Adebara and co-conspirators knowingly concealed the proceeds of a romance scam operation by moving money between and among multiple bank accounts that were opened under various aliases using fake passports and other fraudulent identification documents to obscure the source of the funds and the identities of the co-conspirators.

Thereafter, Adebara took further steps to conceal the source of the funds, took a commission for himself, and directed the remainder of the funds back to the online romance scammers in Nigeria.