ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office said a federal judge sentenced a Round Rock man to 10 years in prison for his role in a multi-million dollar scheme.
Prosecutors said Okanlawon Azeez Egerongbe, 37, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. A judge sentenced him last week to 10 years and ordered him to pay $633,520 in restitution.
According to court records, Egerongbe got the money through various fraud schemes that ended up costing victims $3.5 million. The frauds included romance, business email compromise (BEC), unemployment insurance and investment scams that prosecutors said were all designed to trick innocent victims.
The government accused Egerongbe of using fake passports to open multiple bank accounts in Austin.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Egerongbe would then structure withdrawals into smaller amounts to avoid having to report them. The government said many victims faced serious financial hardship from these schemes.
“My office will continue to pursue fraudsters and identity thieves who use the internet to prey on vulnerable
victims online,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff in a Thursday press release. “That includes the money launderers who enable these transnational criminal networks by concealing and transferring their ill-gotten gains. The tragic suicide of one of the romance fraud victims in this case, who suffered the betrayal and the loss of so much hard-earned money, underscores the real-world impact of these online scams.”
