Arrests made in Romance Scam Fraud

Arrests made in Romance Scam Fraud

Friday, October 18, 2019 - 12:18 PM
Financial Crimes:  416-808-7300

In December 2018, the Financial Crimes Unit – Mass Marketing Section and members of the Toronto Strategic Partnership initiated an investigation into a romance-type fraud scam that targeted senior citizens across Canada.

It is alleged that:

- the victims began online relationships, corresponding with profiles on social media sites. After a period of time, once trust was established, the victims were persuaded to send money to various bank accounts.

- losses to victims identified so far in this case amount to approximately $250,000.

Investigators identified a number of suspects that opened and controlled the bank accounts set up to receive the funds generated from these romance frauds.

The bank accounts were a mix of legitimate and fraudulent accounts that were opened with counterfeit identification.

The Toronto Police executed four search warrants in September 2019 and arrested five individuals as part of the investigation.

Oluwaseun Oladokun, 35, of Toronto, was charged with:
1. Possession of Proceeds of Crime
2. Launder Proceeds of Crime

Olanrewaju Fagbemi, 36, of Toronto, was charged with:
1. Possession of Proceeds of Crime
2. Launder Proceeds of Crime

Martins Tabat, 33, of Toronto, was charged with:
1. Possession of Proceeds of Crime
2. Launder Proceeds of Crime

It is further alleged that:
- money was accessed from a bank account under the name of ‘George Bature’.
This account received money from victims of a romance scam fraud.

Freeman Toje, 45, of Toronto, was charged with:
1. Possession of Proceeds of Crime
2. Launder Proceeds of Crime
3. Possession of Counterfeit Mark
4. Possess Forged Passport

It is further alleged that:
- money was accessed from bank accounts under the names of ‘Foday Amos’ and ‘Jonathan Faith’

In addition, it is alleged that he was in possession of various fraudulent government identities under the names of:
- Jonathan Faith,
- Foday Amos,
- Sabia Smith,
- Scott Miller,
- Eric Menke,
- Aaron Tubman

Kaitlin Ainsworth, 24, of London, Ontario, was charged with:
1. Possession of Proceeds of Crime
2. Launder Proceeds of Crime

If you believe you have been a victim of a fraud scam and have sent money to someone online please contact the Financial Crimes Unit.

The public is asked to beware of internet romance frauds and are advised not to send money to unknown individuals on-line. For further information on romance scams and preventative strategies please review this link from Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

The Toronto Strategic Partnership is a collaboration of the Toronto Police Service, the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Competition Bureau of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Partnership facilitates information sharing amongst the partners to combat Mass Marketing frauds within Canada and the United States.

In addition to the above partners, Toronto Police Service would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance in this case: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and London Police Service.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7300, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.

For more news, visit TPSnews.ca.

Constable Caroline de Kloet, Corporate Communications, for Detective Sergeant Anthony Coscarella, Financial Crimes Unit