A Maryland man has been sentenced to two years and two months in prison for his role in a scheme that defrauded financial institutions of at least $930,000 using stolen identities. His co-defendant received a three-year sentence last week.
Court documents show that Akinsegun Oyekunle, 44, and Rasheed Olalekan Williams, 51, impersonated identity theft victims and posed as corporate representatives for legitimate manufacturing and trucking businesses to steal funds from those companies. Oyekunle registered fake businesses with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and obtained fraudulent Internal Revenue Service identification numbers under the names of these companies. Williams then opened multiple bank accounts in the names of these fictitious companies.
Williams deposited stolen and forged checks into these accounts on at least six occasions. The checks were often meant for the real businesses being impersonated. Oyekunle and his co-conspirators quickly withdrew or transferred funds before banks detected the fraud. The group impersonated at least five identity theft victims, including one deceased individual, by obtaining personal information, opening fake bank accounts, and creating fraudulent identification documents.
Investigators found an electronic fraud ledger containing victim information in Oyekunle’s possession along with several debit cards issued in victims’ names. Williams was arrested separately with a fake driver’s license and debit card linked to a victim involved in the scheme.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud earlier this year—Williams on April 9 and Oyekunle on April 22. Williams was sentenced on August 7 to three years in prison; Oyekunle received his sentence today.
“Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Reid Davis, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles.”
“Assistant U.S. Attorney Avi Panth prosecuted the case. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth R. Simon Jr. provided substantial assistance to the prosecution.”
Further details about this case can be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or through court records available via PACER by searching Case Nos. 1:25-cr-97 (Williams) and 1:25-cr-104 (Oyekunle).
