A 29-year-old Calgary man faces a total of 29 charges in a $3 million fraud scam in which Americans were told they won a lottery, but had to pay fees before they could collect on their winnings.
RCMP say charges against Albert Onolunose, 29, relate to a group operation that defrauded citizens in the U.S. of thousands – and in some cases, tens of thousands – of dollars between April 2005 and March 2008.
Individuals in the United States were contacted by letter or phone and advised they won a sweepstakes, the RCMP Calgary Commercial Crime Section said in a statement Friday.
The victims were also told they had to “pay taxes, administration and/or lawyers’ fees to obtain their winnings,” RCMP added.
“The lotteries or sweepstakes did not exist.”
Onolunose is charged with 24 counts of fraud over $5,000, along with additional charges of money laundering, committing an offfence to benefit a criminal organization, and two counts of engaging in deceptive telemarketing. The charges relate to a group operation that allegedly defrauded citizens over a three-year period.
“Impact to the victims was significant as the personal losses ranged from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars,” RCMP said.
Onolunose was initially released from prison on Feb. 18, 2010, on the 29 charges, under conditions that he remain inside his home, respond to police when they try to contact him, and not possess a cellphone.
Since then, RCMP said they had grounds to lay an additional nine charges against Onolunose of breaking the terms of his release, plus one charge of attempted fraud over $5,000.
The last fraud charge “relates to evidence that Albert Onolunose was attempting to re-establish the scam and was targeting elderly United States victims,” the police statement said.
Anyone with information regarding this scam is asked to call Sgt. Butler at 403-699-2558 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Comments