Providence, Rhode Island — A Texas man posing as a high-ranking military man has pleaded guilty to participating in a scam in which women across the country were swindled out of approximately $1.6 million total by someone who showed romantic interest and often pretended to be pass for an army general.
The women, often in their 70s and 80s and widowed or divorced, were persuaded to send cash or checks to addresses and businesses controlled by Fola Alabi, also known as Folayemi Alabi, 52, who lived in Richmond, Texas, just outside the Houston metropolitan area.
Last week, Alabi pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges in federal district court in Rhode Island, the US attorney’s office said in a statement Monday.
According to prosecutors, a person posing as a general sent abroad made friends online with women and gradually gained their trust by feigning romantic or personal interest.
According to prosecutors, the money was deposited in bank accounts he also controlled, before being quickly withdrawn or transferred. Federal agents who searched Alabi’s cell phone found photos and videos of packages containing cash and checks he had received from some victims, prosecutors said.
The victims were from Rhode Island, Tennessee, North Carolina, California, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Idaho and South Dakota, according to authorities.
An Arizona woman lost $334,000, according to an affidavit filed in the case. She felt “shame, embarrassment and guilt over being cheated” and, as a result, she did not have enough money to eat or pay the bills, according to the affidavit.
A Rhode Island woman sent a check for $60,000 and was going to send another $240,000, but her bank discovered she might be a victim of fraud, blocked her account and contacted local police, authorities said.
Sentencing is expected to be handed down on April 25.
