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Accused of Bilking ISDs, Elderly & Charities Out of $6.7M
Rural ISD Helps in Conviction of Fraudster
Federal prosecutors announced (Oct. 14) that Babatope Joseph Aderinoye, 30, of Plano, was convicted by a jury of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft charges resulting from fraud schemes that defrauded school districts, senior citizens and charities out of more than $6.7 million.

Although a press release issued by prosecutors states that “school districts” were among Aderinoye’s victims, Community ISD — a 2,500-student rural district about 40 miles east of Plano — was the only district mentioned, by name, as being victimized.

An Unsuccessful Attempt
CISD quickly issued a clarifying statement that Aderinoye had made an unsuccessful attempt in January 2019 to convince a CISD employee that he (Aderinoye) worked for a contractor who was doing business with the district.

The CISD employee, by following the district’s protocol and chain of command, determined that Aderinoye didn’t really work for the contractor, and the district didn’t comply with Aderinoye’s request that the district make a wire transfer of funds to a bank account Aderinoye falsely claimed to be owned by the contractor.

Instead, the FBI was notified, and evidence collected from Aderinoye’s failed wire transfer fraud attempt — and testimony from the CISD employee Aderinoye had contacted — was used to assist prosecutors in making their criminal case against Aderinoye.

Prosecutors said that Aderinoye used dozens of fake IDs (including fake passports) and used numerous fake aliases that allowed him and his co-conspirators to perpetrate more than $6.7 million in identify theft schemes, including by draining more than $352,000 from the investment account of an elderly man. Much of the illicit gains wound up in bank accounts in Nigeria with the assistance of his co-conspirators based in that country, prosecutors said.

Aderinoye faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on a date to be determined. The investigation is ongoing, as co-conspirators and victims continue to be identified, prosecutors said.