#270368 by TerranceBoyce
Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:25 am
https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/advice-and-support/fraud-and-economic-crime/fraudsquads/fraudsquad-News/Pages/men-jailed-after-laundering-cash-from-online-dating-scam.aspx
01 October 2015
Men jailed after laundering cash from online dating scam
Three men who used personal and company bank accounts to launder more than £100,000 generated from international online scams have been jailed for a total of seven-and-half- years.
Following an investigation by the City of London Police Young Ewere, 31, from Bedfordshire, Uwaifo Ogbeide, 34, from South East London, and Renatus Ahadome, 27, from West London, were sentenced today at the Old Bailey after being convicted of money laundering in August 2015.
Detectives uncovered how in 2012 a woman from Colorado was befriended on PlentyOfFish.com by a man called “John Eluwin”, who sent her flowers and love letters and then asked her for money, claiming it was for a business associate.
In total, the victim transferred in excess of $200,000, of which just over £30,000 went into Ewere’s bank account.
It was also revealed how another American citizen lost £220,475, of which £125,190 was laundered through the bank accounts of Ewere and Ahadome.
In this case the victim asked his UK fund manager to transfer money to a new US fund management account. However, fraudsters then took control of his email address and arranged for the money to be sent elsewhere.
When questioned, Ewere claimed to have a business exporting cars to Africa which explained why he had payments of between £2,000 and £8,000 sporadically appearing in his account. However, he had no paperwork to back this up and couldn’t name the UK port being used to export the cars.
Ogbeide described himself as unemployed, yet also had large payments of between £2,000 and £8,000 entering his account. He claimed to be helping Ewere with his African car export business and wasn’t aware that the money was criminal property.
Ahadome claimed that he formed a media company with a man named Ade to create promotional material for churches in Nigeria, and that Ade explained all the large transactions crediting his bank account this way.
Ewere was jailed for four-and-a-half years, Ahadome for 18 months and Ogbeide for 12 months.
Uwaifo Ogbeide (left) and Renatus Ahadome (right)
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