A Nigerian man, Adetomiwa Seun Akindele, has been sentenced to 71 months in a U.S. federal prison for defrauding a Colorado woman of over $1.6 million in a romance scam. He will be deported to Nigeria after serving his sentence.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Akindele, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He was ordered to pay $1,692,945 in restitution and forfeit the same amount.
Court documents reveal that between January and October 2018, Akindele posed as “Frank Labato,” a wealthy Italian-American businessman, on a dating site. He tricked a widowed Colorado woman into sending him money by claiming he was dealing with a work-related crisis abroad.
He instructed the victim to open a cryptocurrency exchange account and transfer over $1.6 million. The funds were laundered through several exchanges, converted back into U.S. dollars, and deposited into Akindele’s bank accounts. He even issued fake promissory notes to assure her of repayment.
“This sentence both serves justice to the victim and helps prevent this individual from scamming someone else,” said U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly.
FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek described the case as “egregious,” warning that romance scammers “prey on trust and emotion to exploit victims.”
The sentence was delivered by United States District Judge Charlotte N.
