Lanham Man Gets 3 Years for Gold Scam

GREENBELT, MD – Olusegun Adebiyi, a 42-year-old resident of Lanham, Maryland, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced to 39 months for a brazen scheme to defraud Gold Bullion International (GBI) out of $122,500. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow also slapped Adebiyi with three years of supervised release and a hefty $122,500 restitution order. The sentence comes down after Adebiyi pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Federal prosecutors detailed how Adebiyi and his accomplices used stolen personal information to open trading accounts with GBI. On July 3, 2013, the crew faxed a forged Maryland driver’s license belonging to one of the victims. Over the following weeks, they racked up $122,500 in fraudulent purchases of precious metals, shipping the loot to a Washington, D.C. address. The money for these purchases was siphoned directly from the victim’s bank account, all without their knowledge. This wasn’t a one-off; Adebiyi attempted the same scam with a second victim in September 2013.

The second attempt, while ultimately unsuccessful in its entirety, showed a disturbing level of persistence. Surveillance footage captured Adebiyi faxing another fraudulent driver’s license from a College Park, Maryland store. When GBI requested resubmission of the documents, Adebiyi returned to the same store on October 9, 2013, again caught on camera. He attempted to purchase $44,833.50 in precious metals in the second victim’s name, intending to deliver them to another D.C. address.

Law enforcement wasn’t fooled. A controlled delivery was attempted on November 6, 2013, via UPS. Investigators observed Adebiyi arriving in the area just before the scheduled delivery. The package was recalled due to an incomplete address, and Adebiyi was seen leaving the scene shortly after. A second attempt on November 14, 2013, saw Adebiyi again stake out the delivery location. As the UPS driver entered an apartment building with the package, and then exited with it, law enforcement moved in to arrest Adebiyi. A search revealed he was carrying tracking numbers for both deliveries, along with the second victim’s identifying information.

The case was a collaborative effort, spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein, the FBI’s Stephen E. Vogt, and Prince George’s County Police Chief Mark A. Magaw. Authorities highlighted the work of the Maryland Identity Theft Working Group, a multi-agency task force dedicated to combating identity theft and fraud. This bust underscores a commitment to protecting citizens from having their identities stolen and used for criminal gain.

This prosecution is part of a larger, national push by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), launched in 2009. The FFETF brings together over 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state/local partners in an effort to aggressively investigate and prosecute financial crimes. Adebiyi’s sentence sends a clear message: exploiting others’ identities for personal profit will not be tolerated, and those who do will face serious consequences.