Hyattsville Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud Conspiracy That Intended to Cause a Loss of More Than $4.1 Million to Victim Businesses | USAO-MD

Baltimore, Maryland – Oyekanmi Oworu, 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy on bank fraud and grievous identity theft yesterday.

The admission of guilt was announced by the US Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and the relevant special envoy Andrew McKay of the Treasury’s inspector-general for tax administration.

According to his admission of guilt, between February 2017 and July 2020, Oworu conspired with co-defendant Babtunde Ajibawo, 55 years old, of Essex, UK and others to fraudulently obtain checks made out to legitimate companies and then fraudulently register mailbox companies, Government business certificates in the same or similar names as the legitimate companies to which the checks were made. The conspiracy also used the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Modernized Internet Employer Identification Number (EIN) and fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers from real people to obtain an EIN for the fraudulent business.

Specifically, on February 7, 2017, Oworu opened a bank account with a sacrificed financial institution on behalf of a real person and deposited a stolen check for $ 265,168.20 payable to a legitimate company. Oworu then withdrew the proceeds.

In addition, on November 20, 2018, Oworu opened a bank account with a sacrificed financial institution under a similar name of a legitimate company using the funds and identification of AS, a real person. Upon opening the account, Oworu deposited a stolen check for $ 58,713.50 to the legitimate company. Video surveillance caught Oworu depositing the stolen check in Washington, DC

During the fraud scheme, Oworu communicated with co-conspirators about the distribution of the stolen proceeds, including the money he would personally receive for opening fraudulent bank accounts and depositing stolen checks. On May 23, 2019, Oworu asked Ajibawo to transfer $ 3,000 and the balance to another co-conspirator in Fayetteville, Georgia.

In addition, as described in the replacing indictment, Oworu and his co-conspirators attempted to hide their criminal acts and avoid prosecution by relocating the fraud system to other jurisdictions. A significant part of a fraudulent scheme has been committed from outside the United States, particularly Nigeria.

Overall, Oworu and his co-conspirators intended to inflict a loss of at least $ 4.1 million on victim companies, cause an actual loss of at least $ 756,175.30, and compromise the identification information of more than 50 individual victims.

The co-defendant Ajibawo pleaded guilty to the conspiracy on bank fraud on July 8, 2021 and is due to be sentenced on December 8, 2021 at 10 a.m.

Oworu faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, followed by up to five years’ supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and a compulsory two-year prison term following any other sentence for aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea agreement, Oworu is also required to make a refund. US District Judge Catherine C. Blake has set the conviction for March 10, 2022 at 9:15 a.m.

US Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for his work on the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked US assistant attorneys Mary W. Setzer and Judson T. Mihok for pursuing the case.

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https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/hyattsville-man-pleads-guilty-bank-fraud-conspiracy-intended-cause-loss-more-41-million