HUNTINGTON, WV – Oluwabamishe Awolesi, 29, of Beltsville, Maryland, is facing up to a decade in federal prison after pleading guilty today to receiving stolen money as part of a sprawling romance fraud scheme that bilked over 200 victims out of at least $2.5 million. The operation preyed on lonely hearts, many of them elderly, with promises of love and connection that turned into devastating financial loss.
Court documents reveal that Awolesi, also known as Oluwabamise Johnson, directly benefited from the scam, receiving $90,000 in September 2018 from a single victim. He pocketed $12,000 for himself and funneled the remaining $78,000 further along the chain of fraudsters. Awolesi was operating out of Huntington, West Virginia, during his involvement, using the city as a hub for laundering illicit funds.
This case is one of three indictments brought against multiple defendants involved in the elaborate scheme, which ran from 2016 to 2020. Prosecutors describe a calculated effort to create fake online personas – complete with fabricated names, locations, and stolen images – to lure victims into believing they were forming genuine relationships. The scammers often posed as U.S. residents working abroad, concocting elaborate stories to explain their absence and justify requests for money.
The fraud didn’t begin with large requests. The scheme started with small asks: gift cards, cell phone payments. But as the fabricated relationships deepened, the demands grew, escalating into requests for substantial sums of money. Awolesi, a citizen of both Nigeria and the United States, willingly opened bank accounts to receive and process these ill-gotten gains. The conspiracy also extended to cryptocurrency schemes and scams involving celebrity meet-and-greets, broadening their reach and maximizing profits.
Awolesi’s guilty plea comes with a promise of restitution: he’s agreed to pay back the full $90,000 he received. But that’s a small fraction of the $2.5 million stolen from hundreds of vulnerable individuals. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. This case highlights the devastating impact of online fraud, especially on the elderly.
The investigation, spanning approximately two years, was a collaborative effort led by the U.S. Secret Service, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), the West Virginia State Police, and the South Charleston Police Department. U.S. Attorney Will Thompson announced the guilty plea. Victims of elder fraud can seek help at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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