Nearly eight months after Fola Alabi, also known as Folayemi Alabi, was arrested, he admitted he used front companies and addresses to receive thousands of dollars swindled from the victims.
Once the money would arrive, Alabi would deposit it in one of his bank accounts and would then quickly withdraw or transfer it to other accounts to avoid detection.
Faking personal and sometimes romantic interest to lure the target, a member of the conspiracy claiming to be a “General Miller,” purportedly a four-star general, convinced multiple women to send him money, including a widow who provided $60,000 to finance the shipment of his personal belongings to the United States.
At the purported “General Miller’s” direction, a check was made payable to Full Circle Import Exports, a company created by Alabi, and mailed to Alabi’s residence in Texas. The victim was prepared to send more money when her bank and the police warned she was likely the victim of fraud.
To carry out these schemes, the conspirator often posed as a general in the U.S. military serving overseas or as a family member offering an investment opportunity.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Attorney’s Office, which determined that Alabi allegedly bilked seniors out of more than $1.6 million.
Besides facing the possibility of years in prison, Alabi will forfeit $31,773.22 found on one of his bank accounts, his Texas residence and other assets he obtained this way.
With Alabi’s smartphone seized last year, authorities had access to photos and videos of packages containing cash and checks received by him from numerous victims.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
Online romance scam is on the rise, with scammers having exploited Americans out of more than $1 billion in 2021 alone.
