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A Nigerian national was sentenced to 26 years in prison in the US for stealing millions by compromising the email accounts of real estate businesses.
The man, Kolade Akinwale Ojelade, 34, a resident of Leicester, UK, was indicted in February 2023 and was extradited to the US in April 2024. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft during summer.
According to court documents, Ojelade relied on phishing to compromise the email accounts of real estate businesses and gain access to them.
He then monitored the conversations and, when noticing that large transactions were being prepared, intercepted the wire payment instructions and sent modified information from spoofed email accounts.
The changed information instructed prospective homeowners looking to buy properties and real estate companies wiring money to title companies to send the funds to accounts controlled by Ojelade and his co-conspirators.
Once the funds were wired, Ojelade and his co-conspirators would either withdraw them or transfer them to other bank accounts.
The scheme is estimated to have caused roughly $12 million in actual losses. However, the prosecutors said that the intended losses were more than $100 million.
In addition to serving 26 years in prison, Ojelade was ordered to pay over $3.3 million in restitution. After serving his sentence, he will be subject to deportation.
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“Mr. Ojelade callously engaged in a scheme that stole millions of dollars from prospective homeowners and real estate companies. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes. Financial crimes can be devastating for individuals and companies because most times those monetary funds are never recovered,” said P.J. O’Brien, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Dallas Division.
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