been sentenced to 27 years in jail by a US court
for an international romance scam he
perpetrated from 2007 to 2014.
Lagos-born Sunmola, who was the ringleader of
a love scam organisation based in South Africa,
was also ordered to repay $1.7m.
Sumola and others scammed many American
women of millions of dollars while parading
themselves as American soldiers stationed
overseas or engineers working on a large
government contract in South Africa.
They cultivated romantic relationships with
dozens of women using pictures of men they
found online, sometimes pictures of dead
servicemen from memorial websites.
Prosecutors said Sumola’s activities drove
some to bankruptcy and at least one to the
brink of suicide.
The 33-year-old showered the women with
poetry, cards, flowers, stuffed animals, and
chocolates until he has successfully entrapped
them. Once his target his entrapped, Sunmola
began to
manufacture emergencies, each of which
required increasingly large amounts of money
from his victims.
two Range Rovers, four properties in South
Africa and a $363,000 home in Nigeria,
prosecutors said.
A federal grand jury sitting in East St. Louis
indicted Sunmola in November 2013 on charges
of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and
interstate extortion.
After two days of a jury trial Sunmola pleaded
guilty to eight felonies, including mail fraud,
wire fraud, conspiracy, and interstate extortion.
In his ruling Judge Herndon said,
“‘Conspiracy,’ ‘mail and wire fraud,’ and
‘interstate extortion’ hardly sound like
the kinds of crimes that leave broken
lives, wrecked women, fractured families,
devastation, desires to die, humiliation
and shame so extreme.
“But then, his charm turned to bullying,
name calling, extortion, unthinkable
demands and threats. Thoughts of
paradise turned into thoughts of hell and,
for some, thoughts of suicide. The most
devastating crime one could ever
imagine without laying hands or even
eyes on another human being.”
When Sunmola has completed his 27-year
prison term, he will be deported to Nigeria.
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