30 year-old Oladimeji Seun Ayelotan, was sentenced to 95 years in prison; Rasaq Aderoju Raheem, aged 31, got 115 years and Femi Alexander Mewase, who is 45 years old was handed a 25-year jail term, according to a report from Infosecurity Magazine.
A court in the Southern District of Mississippi had in February found them all guilty of crimes including mail fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud and theft of government property. Ayelotan and Raheem were also found guilty of conspiracies to commit bank fraud and money laundering.
The Department of Justice say the trio since 2001 have been involved in multiple internet fraud schemes, resulting in losses in the tens of millions.
It claimed that they would befriend women on dating sites, establish a romantic relationship and then either get them to send money or have them participate in fraud schemes, usually without the victim’s knowledge.
The unsuspecting women would sometimes be required to cash counterfeit checks and money orders; use stolen credit card details to purchase goods; and use stolen personal information to take over victims’ bank accounts.
They were also apparently used to launder money via Western Union and MoneyGram, and re-package and re-ship goods obtained fraudulently.
A whopping 21 defendants have already been charged in this ongoing case, 12 of whom have pleaded guilty to charges involving conspiracy and 11 of whom have been sentenced.
The three Nigerians were among the six extradited from South Africa by US Department of Justice in 2015 to face charges of running a series of scams against gullible Americans over the past 16 years.
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