A Baltimore County Man has been Sentenced for Bank Fraud Scheme Involving Over $1.8 Million.
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin today sentenced Damilola Ojo, age 31, of Windsor Mill, Maryland, to 48 months in federal prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for charges related to a bank fraud scheme totaling more than $1.8 million.
As part of his plea, Ojo also admitted to obtaining a fraudulent $475,000 COVID-19 CARES Act loan. Judge Rubin ordered Ojo to forfeit $20,000 and to pay restitution of $546,000.
The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Andrew McKay of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”).
According to his guilty plea, from April 2016 through August 2019, Damilola Ojo conspired with Jamelia Thompson, Victor Ojo, Raissa Kaossele, and others to commit Bank Fraud using the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) Modernized Internet Employer Identification Number (“Mod IEIN”) system.
The co-conspirators, including Damilola Ojo, created and used various EINs (or caused various EINs to be created and used) in furtherance of a scheme to defraud. Many of these EINs were obtained from the IRS using stolen Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”).
These EINs, in conjunction with fraudulently obtained state business certificates, allowed the co-conspirators to open bank accounts at various financial institutions for the purpose of depositing stolen and/or altered checks or for receiving fraudulently obtained wire transfers.
Once obtained, the proceeds of this fraudulent activity were rapidly withdrawn and/or transferred to other bank accounts controlled by the co-conspirators.
A co-conspirator’s Google account was the source of many of the fraudulent identification and business documents – packaged together as “work kits” – utilized throughout the conspiracy.
M many of these emails were sent to electronic accounts linked to Damilola Ojo, who would then forward them to Thompson, Victor Ojo, Kaossele, and other co-conspirators – in addition to utilizing work kits himself.
These co-conspirators would then open bank accounts using these work kits, they would send Damilola Ojo evidence of the fraudulent transactions that occurred using these bank accounts.
Damilola Ojo would often receive portions of these transactions’ proceeds as they were rapidly dispersed.
From the point Damilola Ojo joined the conspiracy, it had an intended loss of at least $1.8 million.
Upon his arrest, Damilola Ojo shared a residence with co-conspirator Thompson.
In this shared residence, the Government located evidence of ongoing fraud: numerous ETN documents, business documents in other people’s names, numerous IDs in the names of individuals other than those who lived in the home, identification documents with authentication features, and bank cards in the name of other individuals.
In the plea agreement, Damilola Ojo also admitted to additional fraudulent activity involving a pandemic relief program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act.
Financial assistance offered through the CARES Act included forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, in this case through Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”).
On November 21, 2021, Thompson opened a bank account at Woodforest National Bank in Maryland in the name of her business “Jamaria Empire LLC.”
On February 14, 2022, a $475,000 EIDL from the SBA was deposited into bank account xxxxxx2866.
The intended recipient of this EIDL was the Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation.
Once deposited into bank account xxxxxx2866, these funds were depleted through checks to Damilola Ojo, Thompson, and others.
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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