On December 8, 2021, in the District of Maryland, Babatunde Ajibawo was sentenced for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Ajibawo and his coconspirators executed a scheme to defraud financial institutions by means of materially false or fraudulent pretenses. Ajibawo was initially indicted on July 21, 2020, for bank fraud conspiracy, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting. He pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on July 9, 2021.

According to the court documents, beginning in or about February 2017 and continuing until on or about July 1, 2020, in the District of Maryland, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Virginia, Western District of Washington, and elsewhere, Ajibawo and coconspirators opened bank accounts in the names of other individuals and businesses to obtain money from financial institutions by fraud. To further the scheme, Ajibawo and coconspirators would obtain legitimate checks, alter the name of the payee on some checks, create fraudulent checks, and deposit checks, thereby causing fraudulent wire transfers into various bank accounts.

Ajibawo and coconspirators used the names of identity theft victims to obtain Employee Identification Numbers (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service’s Modernized Internet Employer Identification Number (MOD IEIN) system. The EINs were then used to register businesses and obtain State business certificates in business names identical or similar to the names of the payees listed on the checks. Then, they used the names of identity theft victims to open bank accounts in the names of payees listed on the checks. Ajibawo and coconspirators used phones, including messages through WhatsApp, to coordinate the shipping, receipt, and deposit of stolen checks, and the withdrawal of proceeds. Through text messages, they would exchange images of stolen checks, EIN documents, and stolen identity information. Ajibawo defrauded victims of approximately $606,598.08.

Ajibawo was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment and four years’ supervised release. He was ordered to pay $262,653.87 in restitution and a $100 assessment fee.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: D. Md., Plea Agr., filed July 9, 2021; D. Md., Indict., filed July 21, 2020; D. Md., Superseding Indict., filed March 4, 2021; and D. Md., J., filed December 9, 2021.