Matilda Omonaiye/
A 50-year-old Nigerian citizen, resident in Canada, Harry Cole (who is variously known as Akintomide Ayoola Bolu, John King, Big Bro, and Egbon), was extradited yesterday from Canada to face charges in the US for his alleged role in a fraudulent “sweepstakes” scheme with an intended loss in excess of $300 million.
According to a statement by the US Justice Department, a federal grand jury, in September 2018, charged Cole with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud (Sweepstakes) and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
It noted each count upon conviction carries up to 20 years in federal prison.
The statement says that Cole will make his first appearance in court in Austin, Texas today.
According to the Justice Department, the accused is one of eight defendants charged in connection with the fraud scheme.
Others who have been tried and convicted include three other Nigerians, who were also Canadian residents, namely, Emmanuel Olawale Ajayi (aka Wale, aka Walata), Tony Dada Akinbobola (aka Lawrence D Awoniyi, aka Boss Tony, aka Toyin)and Bolaji Akinwunmi Oyewole (aka BJ, aka Beejay).
The rest are identified as Akintola Akinmadeyemi, Joel Calvin, Clarence Barefield and Donna Lundy.
According to the charges, the defendants carried out their sweepstakes scheme from 2012 to 2016.
The packages allegedly contained thousands of mailers, which US-based conspirators sent to victims notifying them that they had won a sweepstakes. Each mailer included a fraudulent cheque issued in the name of the victim, usually in the amount of $8,000, and a pre-addressed envelope.
Victims were then instructed to deposit the cheque into their bank account, immediately withdraw between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars in cash or money orders and send the money to a “sweepstakes representative” to facilitate the victim collecting his or her prize.
“By the time the victim was notified by the bank that the deposited cheque was fraudulent, the cash or money order had been sent by the victim and received by the defendants or conspirators. The intended loss from this scheme was over $300 million, with an actual loss of more than $900,000,” the statement alleges
The statement also alleges that from June 2015 through June 2016, Emmanuel Ajayi led a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) scheme in which over 1,200 fraudulent Income Tax Returns were filed using stolen Personal Identifying Information (PII) requesting $25 million in tax refunds.
Ajayi also allegedly used bank accounts involved in the sweepstakes scheme to receive refunds and funnel the money to conspirators in the US.
An IRS analysis determined that this scheme resulted in the actual loss of approximately $3.4 million paid from the US Treasury.
“In order to acquire the money generated by the Sweepstakes and SIRF schemes, the conspirators operated a money laundering conspiracy in the US That conspiracy employed knowing and unknowing participants to conduct financial transactions with the goals of moving the proceeds from both fraudulent schemes outside of the US without detection by law enforcement.
“Defendants Akinbobola, Ajayi and Oyewole are considered fugitives. On March 9, 2020, Akinmadeyemi was sentenced to ten years in federal prison. On May 27, 2020, Barefield was sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Both were ordered to pay, jointly and severally, $111,870.25 in restitution.
“Defendants Calvin and Lundy, who pleaded guilty to the money laundering conspiracy charge, are scheduled for sentencing in Austin on March 9, 2021, before US District Judge Lee Yeakel,” the statement further states.
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