Awolola Oladayo Opeyemi, a Singaporean woman who was recruited by a Nigerian love scammer based in Malaysia, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for her role in the scam, gistpeople reports
Suhaili Suparjo, 32, fell in love with Opeyemi and had a daughter with him. She was persuaded by him and “blinded by love” to act as his money mule, laundering over S$356,000 in criminal proceeds for him.
She was sentenced in Singapore on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, after pleading guilty to two counts of assisting in the retention of benefits derived from criminal conduct under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
Four additional charges were investigated.
Suhaili was recruited by Opeyemi, who was a member of a Nigerian criminal group based in Malaysia that carried out scams all over the world.
Opeyemi, then 37, was sentenced to five years in prison in a Singapore district court in December 2021 after pleading guilty to three counts of conspiring with others to reap the benefits of criminal conduct resulting in more than $550,000 in losses. A previous report can be found HERE.
Opeyemi was sentenced alongside Awolola Gbolahan Ayobami, another Nigerian. He also hired Norhafiza Samsudin, who had a child with him.
Ayobami, who admitted to two counts of conspiring with others to reap the benefits of criminal conduct resulting in $150,000 in losses, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison.
Opeyemi cultivated a romantic relationship with Suhaili as part of a love scam.
He then hired Suhaili to be his money mule. She would be paid in cash and through her bank accounts.
Suhaili allowed Awolola to use her OCBC bank account to receive funds after her POSB bank account was frozen as a result of police investigations into love scams.
The account was used to receive a total of S$255,935 from four victims in Singapore, Canada, and Macau between June and August of 2017.
Suhaili would occasionally withdraw money from her account before traveling to Malaysia to deliver it to Awolola, who had never visited Singapore.
Awolola and another scammer were apprehended in Malaysia in 2019 and later transferred to Singapore, marking the first time that love scam suspects from other countries were apprehended and brought to Singapore for prosecution.
Suhaili was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the prosecutor.
Suhaili’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Law’s Ms Yamuna Balakrishnan, said her client met Awolola on Facebook in late 2016.
He claimed to be a student at a college in Kuala Lumpur, living there on a student visa.
Suhaili agreed to befriend Awolola because she was intrigued that a man of a different nationality was interested in her, according to the lawyer.
His Facebook account appeared to be legitimate, with images of himself and his social life saturating his feed.
Suhaili became more intimate with Awolola, texting, calling, and video-calling him. She appreciated his “sweet gestures,” which were “a far cry from the many men she had dated or met,” according to Ms Yamuna.
They later met at Johor Bahru City Square for milkshakes and doughnuts, and Suhaili described Awolola as her “dream guy,” according to the lawyer.
Suhaili, blinded by her “newfound fairy-tale love,” was willing to defy her mother’s wishes and move to Malaysia to live with Awolola.
She was later introduced as Awolola’s girlfriend to his friends. His friends said it was the first time he introduced them to a woman and that he was in love and serious.
Suhaili found out she was pregnant in February or March of 2017. Awolola was pleased with the pregnancy and advised Suhaili to keep the child.
According to Ms Yamuna, he stated that he would do anything to marry Suhaili, including convert to Islam.
She stated that Awolola accompanied Suhaili to all medical appointments in Malaysia.
Awolola began requesting permission to use Suhaili’s bank account to transfer and withdraw money from an overseas friend.
Suhaili acted in accordance with Awolola’s instructions, according to Ms Yamuna, including providing cover-up stories to Singaporean police for the illegal transactions.
Suhaili continued to assist Awolola after learning of the crimes.
According to her lawyer, this was due to Awolola’s habit of gaslighting her by yelling, “If you choose to leave me, you will end up as a single mother raising this child alone.”
Ms Yamuna claimed that Suhaili once tried to refuse Awolola’s request, but Awolola pushed the heavily pregnant woman to the ground.
Suhaili went into labor, fainted at Customs, and gave birth to a slightly premature daughter in September 2017.
According to her lawyer, Awolola was an absent father who did not contribute financially to Suhaili’s child’s upbringing.
Suhaili made no money from the crimes, according to the lawyer.
After being sentenced to prison, Awolola informed Suhaili via Facebook that he was serving his sentence.
He begged forgiveness, but Suhaili refused to be duped by him and ignored him, according to Ms Yamuna.
She requested a year in prison, claiming that a longer sentence would be devastating to Suhaili’s daughter, who is completely reliant on Suhaili.
Suhaili’s sentence was postponed until March 2023 by the judge.
