Maryland Man Sentenced to Two-Year Prison Term in Identity Theft Scheme

Twenty-Five Victims and More Than 40 Accounts Compromised

WASHINGTON—Oladayo Oladokun, 37, was sentenced today to two years of imprisonment for carrying out a scheme in which he took over financial accounts belonging to about 25 victims. In total, more than 40 financial accounts were taken over, fraudulently used, possessed, or opened without the victims’ authorization, causing more than $300,000 in losses.

Oladokun, most recently of Lanham, Md., pled guilty in February 2011 to a charge of aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced today by the Honorable Ellen S. Huvelle in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In addition to the prison term, the judge ordered Oladokun to pay restitution of $269,304. He will be on one year of supervised release upon completion of the prison term.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Daniel S. Cortez, Inspector in Charge, Washington Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and David Beach, Special Agent in Charge, Washington Field Office, U.S. Secret Service.

According to the government’s evidence, Oladokun and others engaged in a scheme to defraud bank and credit card companies through an account takeover scheme. An account takeover occurs when individuals obtain names and identifying information of victims, and then using this information, call the victims’ banks and credit card companies pretending to be the real account holders.

Once in possession of the victims’ checks and/or credit cards, Oladokun and others engaged in financial transactions such as buying goods and services, depositing the bank checks into accounts opened in the names of other victims, cashing checks, and purchasing money orders.

>From July 2008 to August 2010, the defendant was involved with account takeovers of numerous financial accounts. Banks, credit card companies, and others suffered losses with respect to these accounts in the approximate total amount of $301,431, although some money was later recovered.

Oladokun admitted in court that he engaged in identity theft, knowing that the victims were actual persons.

In announcing today’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin, Inspector in Charge Cortez, and Special Agent in Charge Beach commended the work of those who investigated the matter for the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Secret Service. They also commended the staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Diane Hayes and Sarah Reis, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Cheatham, who prosecuted the case.