The United States has no way of knowing the precise amount of money Sunmola and his
associates stole, but victims who responded to government requests for information
reported total losses in excess of $1.7 million – a figure Sunmola has been ordered to
pay in restitution. The crime forced at least three women to file for bankruptcy. Several
more lost their jobs and their homes and were left in total financial ruin. One victim who
testified at the trial lost over $90,000 to Sunmola. "Retirement should be a happy time,"
she wrote to the court. "Instead, I am stressed and broke and working part time jobs at
$10 an hour to supplement my income."
Two victims were present in the courtroom when the sentence was announced. A
number of businesses were also defrauded by Sunmola and his associates, who used
stolen credit card data from thousands of Americans to make fraudulent purchases
online and over the phone. The loss incurred by one computer manufacturer alone was
over $800,000.
Even worse than the financial hardships Sunmola caused his victims was the profound
emotional and psychological damage he inflicted on them. Many of the women believed
they had finally found their true love. A few had even purchased wedding dresses. When
the lie was exposed, their worlds collapsed. Some fell into depression. Two victims told
the court they had seriously contemplated suicide. Even many years later, a number of
Sunmola’s victims remain withdrawn and untrusting, afraid to meet new people or to
venture back out on the internet. For at least two women in Illinois, the abuse was also
sexual, as Sunmola stole images of their naked bodies, used the images to extort money
from them, and then distributed their explicit images on the internet for anyone to see.
At sentencing, the United States argued that the court should depart upward from the
range recommended by federal sentencing guidelines, because the crimes Sunmola
committed were unusually cruel and caused his victims extreme psychological harm. In
support of that argument, the government presented testimony from Monica Whitty,
Ph.D., an Australian psychologist who has extensively researched online romance scams
from her post at the United Kingdom’s University of Leicester. Whitty testified that, in
her expert opinion, the victims had indeed suffered a substantial and severe psychological impact. "They’ve in many ways experienced potentially permanent, life-altering changes in their lives. The long-term effects remain, years and years later."
United States District Judge David R. Herndon agreed. "‘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," Judge Herndon said. "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." Judge Herndon called it "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 removed to his native home of Nigeria. For that reason, no term of supervised release was ordered. Imposition of a fine was also waived, in favor of the restitution award. Over $200,000 in proceeds from the sale of Sunmola’s four properties in South Africa has already been turned over to the District Court and will be proportionally disbursed to the individual identified victims. In the meantime, Judge Herndon expressed hope that the significant prison sentence would act as a deterrent for other scam artists, particularly Sunmola’s "underlings": "When they hear of what sentence the boss received, they will hopefully be incentivized to stop their illegal activity immediately."
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Field Office of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. "Criminals who look for or who expect anonymity of the mail or the borders of a country to protect them when conducting criminal activity are placed on notice today," said Inspector in Charge E.C. Woodson, Chicago Division U.S. Postal Inspection Service. "The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, in partnering with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will go beyond borders to ensure justice is served. Nothing is as painful as a broken heart, and this defendant caused extreme hardship to many of his victims."
A number of other law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation and prosecution of this case, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, the London Metropolitan Police Service, and the South African Police Service, which conducted its own extensive investigation into Sunmola’s activities in South Africa and initiated the foreclosure proceedings on his properties.
The case was referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office as part of an ongoing partnership between the two offices to identify, investigate and prosecute international scammers who prey on Illinois residents. This prosecution is also part of a larger initiative with the Chicago Office of the Federal Trade Commission to target romance scammers. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Nathan D. Stump, Bruce E. Reppert, and Emily J. Wasserman.
--DOJ Southern District of Illinois