4 Arrests Made in Identity Thefts, $1.4-Million Fraud

Four Los Angeles-area residents were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing the identities of 83 victims and using them to defraud banks and the U.S. government of almost $1.4 million, federal authorities said.

Early morning raids by law enforcement agents, most of them from the Secret Service, resulted in the arrests of two men and two women, authorities said.

The suspects were identified as Richard Fadahunsi Olawale, also known as Richard Williams, of Los Angeles; Rick Lnu, also known as Rick Pesano, of Los Angeles; Chiemezie Okonko of Inglewood and Mary Oyeniran of Granada Hills. Authorities said all four were believed to be Nigerian citizens.

Another suspect, Bashir Ajenifuja, also known as Gbolahan Abayomi, was believed to be out of the country, possibly in Nigeria, authorities said.

The four suspects arrested Tuesday were charged with knowingly devising and executing a scheme to defraud a financial institution, because banks ultimately paid for the checks written and cashed on the allegedly fraudulent accounts, said Brian Nagel, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Los Angeles field office.

“One suspect arrested today actually lived on the identity of one of the victims for two years,” Nagel said.

Nagel said the suspects would use other people’s names to establish mailing addresses and bank accounts, and then write checks on those accounts or deposit checks into them and withdraw cash.

The suspects also used the false identities to apply for fraudulent business and vehicle loans, credit cards and student loans so Oyeniran could attend Cal State Northridge, Nagel said.

Authorities seized two Mercedes-Benzes and one Lexus sport utility vehicle as well as $60,000 in cash, and moved to freeze bank accounts with more than $360,000 in them.

Nagel said the investigation by the Los Angeles-based International Fraud Task Force, led by the Secret Service, took 10 months, and started with six victims who had been banking at Bank of America. The Secret Service was assisted in the investigation by a Long Beach police detective who was part of the task force, he said.