Nigerian man accused in sweetheart scam with Harrison County woman to face global fraud charges, GULFPORT -- A Nigerian man living in Canada has been extradited to face charges alleging he was part of an international cybercrime ring that used romance scams, work-at-home schemes and other means to commit financial crimes said to represent millions of dollars in losses.
Adekunle Adefila, 40, is held for a detention hearing Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Gargiulo. Court records show prosecutors want him held with no bond.
Adefila pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of money laundering, attempt and conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S.
He is among more than a dozen people indicted after Homeland Security Investigations agents in Gulfport were notified in 2011 that a Harrison County woman reported she was the victim of a sweetheart scam.
The woman allegedly had been corresponding with a man who later asked her to receive a package in the mail and re-ship it to an address in Pretoria, South Africa.
HSI agents maintain the merchandise in the package had been bought with stolen identities and fraudulent credit card information.
The indictment alleges Adefila created a bogus email account in 2006 to conduct illegal activity and received fraudulently obtained cash advances.
In 2013, he allegedly called an online broker about 38 times and impersonated a victim. Nearly $35,000 of the victim's money was transferred to a bogus bank account. The indictment said part of the money was loaded on pre-paid debit cards for co-conspirators to withdraw money at ATMS or used to buy money orders.
Adefila also is accused of receiving an email containing the personal identifying information of about 100 people in 2013 and using a person's information to contact a broker and wire $30,000 to a bogus bank account.
The indictment alleges he was part of a West African crime enterprise that used online dating sites and mass marketing contact information for romance or job scams to prey on hundreds of victims in the U.S.
Fifteen defendants were arrested in South Africa, Canada, California, Wisconsin and Indiana in May.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Annette Williams and Scott Gilbert and Robert S. Tully of the Justice Department's organized crime gang section.
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