Judge Charlotte Sweeney of a United States District Court has sentenced Nigerian national Adetomiwa Akindele to five years and 11 months in prison for defrauding an elderly American woman of $1.6 million. The court also ordered that he be deported to Nigeria upon completion of his sentence.

According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, Akindele must also pay $1,692,945 in restitution to his victim. The defendant committed the offense between January and October 2018.

Akindele allegedly posed as a wealthy Italian-American businessman named Frank Labato. He contacted the victim and provided false personal and work background details, including images and documents, to support his fictitious identity. He convinced the woman to open a cryptocurrency exchange account, where she ultimately transferred over $1.6 million under his direction.

The statement explained, “In March 2018, Akindele represented to the victim that he had encountered a financial crisis related to his purported work abroad, for which he claimed to need funds and assistance from the victim. Akindele converted the funds into cryptocurrencies and laundered them across multiple crypto addresses before depositing them into his bank accounts.”

Over the course of the scheme, Akindele issued three fraudulent promissory notes to reassure the victim that she would be repaid. Following his arrest, he was charged with wire fraud and money laundering, to which he pleaded guilty.

Upon sentencing, the court ordered Akindele to repay the full amount stolen and confirmed that he would be deported to Nigeria after serving his prison term.

“Adetomiwa Seun Akindele, age 37, a Nigerian national who had been residing in Minnesota before his arrest, has been sentenced to 71 months in federal prison, ordered to pay $1,692,945 in restitution, and a forfeiture money judgment in the same amount after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Upon serving his sentence, Akindele will be deported to Nigeria,” the DOJ statement noted.

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