Adetomiwa Seun Akindele, a 39-year-old Nigerian national, was sentenced on September 16, 2025, to 71 months in federal prison for orchestrating a romance scam that defrauded a widowed Colorado woman of approximately $1.7 million. Between January and October 2018, Akindele posed as a wealthy Italian-American businessman named “Frank Labato” on a dating website, cultivating a false romantic relationship with the victim. He manipulated her into believing he needed funds for various fabricated reasons, convincing her to send money through wire transfers and cryptocurrency to accounts controlled by Akindele and his co-conspirators. The scheme targeted the victim’s vulnerability as a widow, exploiting her trust for significant financial gain.
Akindele pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. In addition to the nearly six-year prison sentence, he was ordered to pay full restitution of $1.7 million to the victim and will face deportation to Nigeria upon completing his sentence. The FBI’s Denver Field Office investigated the case, highlighting the growing prevalence of romance scams targeting vulnerable individuals. U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan emphasized the emotional and financial devastation caused by such scams, underscoring the importance of holding perpetrators accountable.
