A United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago has sentenced Nigerian Olalekan Ponle, also known as Woodberry, to eight years and three months in prison for involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud.
Reports indicate Ponle was on July 11 sentenced by Judge Robert Gettleman after he was found guilty on the one count of fraud.
“The defendant is hereby committed to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a total term of 100 months as to count,” Gettleman said.
Gettleman gave Ponle instructions to present himself to the US Marshal Service for transfer to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, where he would be allowed visits from his family members and his American fiancée.
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The judge also stated that Ponle will be “surrendered to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for deportation immediately following his incarceration.”
The court determined that the Nigerian-born fraudster had the financial ability to repay the full payment but waived all interest on the restitution value. He will now pay seven victims a total of nearly $8 million in restitution.
On June 29, American prosecutors requested that Woodberry get a 14-year prison term for the fraud he perpetrated between January and September of this year.
The court said Woodberry who will be deported after serving out his prison sentence, will pay seven victims about $8 million in restitution. The court discovered that he can afford to make the full payment but waived all interests on the restitution value.
Prosecutors who discovered that he had 152 bitcoins, had sought for the court’s permission to sell it off. A 30-day notice was issued to the public for anyone with interest in the assets to file claims, but no one with legitimate interest turned up at the time of Mr Woodberry’s sentencing.
He is expected to forfeit items in the Dubai police custody, such as one Rolls Royce, Lamborghini Urus, Mercedes-Benz G-Class AMG G55, four Rolex watches, one Patek Philippe watch, and three Audemars Piguet watches.
Woodberry was arrested alongside Ramon Abbas, alias Hushpuppie on June 10, 2020, but the latter was in November 2022 jailed for 11 years over his role in international fraud.
