Akinbobola Komolafe, Check Theft and Forgery, Virginia 2023

A 27-year-old Hanover, Maryland, man has pleaded guilty to his role in a brazen check theft and forgery scheme that swindled at least 10 victims out of nearly half a million dollars.

Akinbobola Komolafe, 27, and his co-conspirators stole checks from the U.S. mail, primarily in the Glen Echo, Maryland, area, and then altered them to change the payment amount and the payee's name.

According to court documents, the scheme involved altering checks originally written for relatively small amounts, such as $43.20 and $140.00, to instead pay tens of thousands of dollars to co-conspirators.

Komolafe was caught on surveillance footage at Wells Fargo bank branches in Falls Church and Arlington, depositing the fraudulent checks into the accounts of recruited co-conspirators. His distinctive clothing, which matched his social media posts, led investigators to identify him as the depositor of the checks.

Once the fraudulent proceeds were deposited, Komolafe and his co-conspirators divided the money among themselves and transferred it into other accounts to conceal the source of the funds. The scheme caused no less than approximately $486,716 in loss, with Komolafe personally obtaining or sharing in no less than $100,000 of that loss.

Komolafe is scheduled to be sentenced on July 28, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties, however, and a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/maryland-man-pleads-guilty-check-theft-and-forgery-scheme