US-based Nigerian man seeks help after being wrongly accused of fraud

Two years after relocating from Nigeria, Olufolajimi Abegunde welcomed his friend to the US as a guest, who later indicted him in fraud-related offenses.

Olufolajimi Abegunde, a United States (US) based Nigerian, has cried out for help, as he stated that he has spent over four years in prison over a crime he didn’t commit.

Adegunde, who relocated from Nigeria in 2014, said things started getting rough for him in 2016, when his long-time friend Ayodeji Ojo, visited me in the US along with his pregnant wife and infant daughter.

“Ojo and his family were accommodated at my home in Atlanta, Georgia,” he revealed.

According to the Texas A & M University’s Masters degree holder, a cheque in which his guest sought his help to cash landed him in trouble.

“At the time of the visit, Ojo had a wholly legitimate cheque of $26,900 that was issued to him by Bank of America. He intended to cash the cheque and utilise the funds for expenses associated with his family’s trip, including medical expenses related to his pregnant wife.

“After being unsuccessful in his attempts to cash the cheque at multiple Bank of America branches, due to the relatively large size of the cheque, Ojo was advised by a Bank of America banker to open a new bank account at another bank, to let the cheque go through the clearing process before the funds would become available to him.

“Ojo chose Wells Fargo Bank, and at Wells Fargo, he was told that he was required to provide a valid identification document, and contact information for correspondence in the form of a US mailing address and a US mobile phone number. Ojo informed the Wells Fargo banker that he was a visitor in the US and did not have a US mailing address and a US mobile phone number.

“After Ojo asked me, I permitted him to utilize my address and mobile phone number to open the account. And so the bank account was opened on August 29, 2016, and Ojo was able to access the funds two days after without any challenges,” he explained.

Speaking further, Adegunde said seven months after Ojo accessed the funds, some Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents accosted him at an airport and took him into custody.

Adegunde said even though there was no evidence to find him guilty of Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Money Laundering Conspiracy and Aggravated Identity Theft that he was accused of, he has since been in prison.

He, therefore, appealed to Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General, and other meaningful Nigerians, to come to his aid.