A Nigerian immigrant was sentenced to 30-months in prison today for his role in an e-mail scam that cost a retired Winnipeg doctor more than $35,000.
Toluwalade Alonge Owolabi, 37, will likely be deported immediately after serving his sentence, court was told.
Owolabi pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to commit fraud for his role in the international con.
A retired Winnipeg doctor was duped into thinking he was in line to inherit more than $1 million which he planned to donate to Third World countries in their ongoing battle against deadly malaria.
In fact, the 84-year-old man was the victim of a common hoax that rarely leads to arrest.
Crown attorney Steve Johnston said this is only the second case of its kind to ever be prosecuted in Canada, despite the fact thousands of people are believed to have been duped by this type of scam.
This isn't the first time Owolabi has been involved in a con job. He was convicted in August 2003 of wire fraud in New York and sentenced to 27 months in prison. Owolabi served his full sentence, then was deported back to Nigeria in 2005, court was told.
A sentence of more than two years means Owolabi will automatically be deported without a hearing. Anything less would allow him to fight to remain, court was told.
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