2024-03-15 04:00:00
A simple romance fraud investigation in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu led to the arrest of a scammer with multiple fabricated identities. He has just been convicted of cheating lonely romantics out of more than $230,000 across the province, as well as in Ontario, but there are fears that his scheme might have generated millions of dollars for a vast fraud network .
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In the summer of 2022, Julie (fictitious name) fell in love with a handsome man she met via Instagram: Francis Gauthier, originally from Trois-Rivières, but resident of France.
For weeks, they got to know each other through chat and some voice conversations. The woman in her fifties quickly fell madly in love, even though she had never seen Francis on video.
So much so that when the man claimed to be in prison in Ivory Coast, where he said he had gone to recover his deceased father’s inheritance, she did everything to put him out of his misery.
In just a few months, she transferred more than $90,000 to him.
But the astronomical sums she sent did not end up in the account of her virtual lover. The reason is simple: it doesn’t exist.
The collector
She was the victim of a love fraud. We had hinted at a passionate relationship, with the sole aim of stealing her.
Rather, it was a man who lived in Longueuil who pocketed the money.
Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle, accused of fraud, admitted his guilt last week at the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu courthouse.
Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU POLICE
Special fact: the 29-year-old accused was not the author of the sweet words sent to his victim. Ibikounle acted as a collector, the one who opens bank accounts and collects the money.
Furthermore, the authorities have reason to believe that the vast network of fraudsters abroad in which Ibikounle took part might have caused several other victims and the damage might even reach millions of dollars.
“I have seen the list of transactions and it is clear that there are other victims, either who we have not been able to identify or who are too ashamed to speak,” insisted Detective Sergeant François Essiembre, from the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu police.
Also, victims transferred sums that had been paid into bank accounts not involving the accused.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU POLICE
Fake passports
Despite everything, the latter was the only one to get stuck. Investigator Essiembre was able to find, in Africa, the IP addresses used for the fraud, without however being able to identify the real thugs behind the screen.
Ibikounle had taken the trouble to cover his tracks. The accounts into which the money was paid had been opened in Quebec, with false foreign passports.
He was eventually identified because he was filmed making bank withdrawals. An exchange between different police forces made it possible to link Ibikounle to four other files which were the subject of an investigation elsewhere. Three of these cases were romance fraud, including that of a woman who paid $189,000.
Money counter found at Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU POLICE
Warning signal
Upon retirement, the woman was then forced to return to the job market, in addition to having to take home her disabled husband whom she might no longer employ for lack of money, summarized the Crown prosecutor, Me Corinne. Girard.
“Victims must protect themselves. “It’s not normal to ask for money from someone you’ve just met, it should be a red flag to end the relationship,” she warned.
Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle, detained since his arrest last August, received a 21-month prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, the man from Benin will likely be expelled from Canada, where he hoped to make a life for himself, said his lawyer, Me Samuel Mcauliffe.
“I wish he was real”
Even following realizing that the one she was infatuated with had been invented entirely to deceive her, Julie continued to maintain contact.
“It took a long time to block it, I would have liked it to be real, I had hope that it would come back,” the fifty-year-old candidly admits.
She agreed to tell her story to Journalprovided that his identity is kept quiet.
“I’m ashamed, a lot!” she says.
If she agreed to pay money to a man she had barely met who was traveling in Ivory Coast, it was first and foremost because she loved him and wanted to help him so that he comes more quickly to meet him. But also because she sincerely believed she would be reimbursed, since he said he was going to recover an inheritance of several million dollars.
Threatened
But she quickly found herself dry. She lied to her mother and daughter to borrow money from them.
She has resigned herself to selling her motorcycle that she loves in order to continue sending transfers.
When she stopped sending money, the threats started. She was shown a montage of sexual images that she had sent to Francis Gauthier.
Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle, who admitted to defrauding Julie, was not the one behind Francis Gauthier’s profile, the investigation revealed.
Silver notes found at Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU POLICE
“Francis Gauthier even continued to communicate with her, until very recently. The manipulation continues, without money being asked,” summarized Me Corinne Girard, of the Crown.
Julie wishes the authorities might have handcuffed the one who played with her feelings.
Furthermore, always the target of messages from strangers to coax her, she admits that she still responds to them sometimes. To test how far the scammers will go, but also secretly not to close the door to true love, if it presents itself, she says.
On the other hand, she will never send money once more.
Refunds
“I paid too dearly,” said the woman who had to work seven days a week to pay off her debts.
Home of Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle, in Longueuil, where police seized a lot of money as well as fraudulent passports. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU POLICE PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU POLICE
What consoles her is that she will recover $90,000 thanks to the money found with the accused and the amounts seized from his bank accounts.
The other victims will also be reimbursed, depending on what we can associate with the accused. The Ontario victim, who had paid $189,000, will not even receive half of his lost fortune.
The victims of Sal-Wane Adewale Ibikounle
Julie (fictitious name), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu: $90,000
Veuve
Meet Francis Gauthier on Instagram
Duration of the fraud: approximately five months
The fraudster’s pretexts for asking for money:
- Said to go to Ivory Coast to collect a large inheritance
- His accounts are frozen, he is unable to pay for his hotel
- Must pay the notary to protect the inheritance
- Unable to pay taxes in Africa
- Got arrested in Africa
Ontario woman: $130,000
Victim takes care of severely disabled husband
Dating on Tinder
The fraudster’s pretexts for asking for money:
- Must travel to Morocco for work
- Victim of a serious road accident
- Need money to pay for medications and surgeries
- Unable to pay for hotels
Man from Roberval: $4000
Victim on welfare
Meet a Mrs. Ratté via the Facebook application
Start a virtual relationship
Duration of the fraud: approximately two months
The fraudster’s pretexts for asking for money:
- Said to have obtained an inheritance of $3.9 million in Switzerland
- Said to need help to collect the inheritance
Man from Granby: $8,500
Met two girls via Facebook dating app, who were using fake profiles
The fraudster’s pretexts for asking for money:
- Request to purchase “Vanilla” cards (prepaid credit cards)
- Offer erotic discussions in exchange
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