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Oluwaseyi Akinyemi, also known as “Paddy Linkin” and “Joseph Kadin,” 35, ran the social media scheme from July 2018 to April 2019, offering victims non-existent financial rewards if they sent cash, money orders, or gift cards to cover fraudulent "taxes and fees", according to the Department of Justice.
Akinyemi and at least one other co-conspirator posed as real and fake government agencies and impersonated social media accounts of the victim's friends or family to make the scam seem more realistic to their elderly targets.
Akinyemi would use aliases to receive the packages that contained the money and would keep a portion of the funds before sending the rest to co-conspirators in Nigeria, officials said.
The Nigerian national admitted that the scheme defrauded at least 13 victims aged between 47 and 78 years old from around the United States for a total amount of $478,145.07.
In one instance, a 78-year-old victim from Texas received an application to apply to a purported federal government grant program. He was said to have been approved for $100,000 in grant funds, but needed to pay taxes and fees to receive the funds.
The victim then sent money to Akinyemi and the co-conspirators and received fraudulent certificates that impersonated the IRS. The victim sent around $80,000 total during the scam, according to the DOJ.
A 71-year-old victim in Indiana received a message from someone posing as a high school friend regarding a "Strengthening Community Fund," prosecutors added The victim was told by the poser that they had received funds from the program in the past and encouraged them to apply.
The second victim sent a total of around $50,000 to the conspirators believing they were receiving an $80,000 grant.
Prosecutors said that a review of Akinyemi’s phone showed photos of tracking numbers and dollar amounts, a receipt for a money order, and conversations with conspirators discussing the percentage of the proceeds Akinyemi would take for his participation in the conspiracy.
At least five victims suffered a substantial financial hardship after sending money to Akinyemi and his co-conspirators.
Akinyemi and co-conspirators also illegally obtained unemployment and CARES Act COVID-19-related benefits beginning in Dec. 2020 by filing fraudulent unemployment claims in the names of living and deceased victims from Maryland and Arizona, prosecutors noted.
A total of nine unemployment insurance claims were filed using the address of Akinyemi’s Washington D.C. nursing care client whom he cared for.
In total, Akinyemi and his co-conspirators used the identities of 19 real individuals to file fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance and PUA claims, causing an actual loss of more than $7,000, and an intended loss of $250,000 in state and federal benefits.
Akinyemi has been ordered to pay $486,119.07 in restitution to his victims.
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