HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man will spend 10 months in prison for his involvement in an inheritance scheme.
Jide Abimbola appeared in the District Court of Guam on Wednesday morning to be sentenced for his role in an inheritance scheme that involved several defendants and victimized dozens of people on Guam.
Abimbola, a Nigerian citizen who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, faced a maximum of 20 years in prison. However, his attorney, Joaquin “Jay” Arriola Jr., stated he should be sentenced to no more than a year in federal prison for his cooperation with the authorities in the case.
In particular, Arriola referred to the fact that Abimbola testified in his co-defendants’ trial, which resulted in a guilty verdict for three women, Mekayda Jones, Monique Jones and Sally Roberto.
“We were the ones who brought down the house,” Arriola stated before Senior District Court Judge John Coughenour, adding that Abimbola’s testimony at trial was “courageous.”
Abimbola subsequently gave statements in his sentencing hearing where he apologized to the people of Guam and expressed there was “no justification” for his actions. Abimbola further stated he wanted to “correct (his) life” and “make amends” for his actions.
Assistant United States Attorney Marivic David recognized Abimbola’s cooperation was “instrumental” in obtaining convictions of his co-defendants, and she recommended that Abimbola serve 18 months in federal prison for his charge.
After hearing the recommendations, Coughenour decided to sentence Abimbola to serve 10 months in federal prison.
Arriola told The Guam Daily Post on Wednesday after the hearing, Abimbola’s reduced sentence was well deserved.
“Jide Abimbola’s reduction in sentence closes this chapter in Guam’s experience with the Nigerian pyramid scheme that affected so many. Jide has sincerely apologized to the people of Guam and already paid back about half of his restitution to the victims. He was the only defendant who testified against all others involved in the scheme and was responsible for shutting it down,” Arriola stated.
Scheme
According to Post files, the inheritance scheme started in 2015 when Teresa Pereda was convinced by a woman over Facebook that she would receive money from the woman’s inheritance if she paid processing fees.
A year later, however, when Pereda ran out of money, she began to convince others on the island, including Roberto, to pay money with the promise investors would receive a “tenfold return.”
Mekayda Jones and Monique Jones, according to Post files, were residents of Texas who were often wired money from Pereda and Roberto. The Joneses got involved with the scheme after being recruited by co-defendant Onyebachum Oseji, who asked the pair to move his money among their bank accounts and wire them to other companies.
Oseji, Abimbola, Okechukwu Iwuji and Marcus Unigwe were Nigerian citizens with Florida addresses and were accused of sending the wired money to Nigeria.
Before Abimbola’s sentencing hearing, Pereda had already been sentenced to eight years, while Roberto was sentenced to about three years. Mekayda Jones was sentenced to three years and Monique Jones was sentenced to serve four years.
According to Post files, Iwuji was sentenced to serve almost four years in prison.
The day before Abimbola’s sentencing, Unigwe was sentenced to 18 months, court records show.
Oseji has yet to be sentenced.
All the defendants, as part of their sentences, have been ordered to pay back different amounts of restitution.
The District Court of Guam is seen Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Hagåtña.
