‘Motivated by greed’

A Winnipeg man’s taste for “the nicer things in life” ended in his arrest for a money-laundering scheme that saw a Calgary-based oil and gas company cheated out of nearly $700,000, a court heard Tuesday.

Ayodelle Olayiwola, 27, has pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of property obtained by crime and money laundering.

“He was motivated by greed, he was supporting a lavish lifestyle for himself,” said Crown attorney Jocelyne Ritchot, who recommended provincial court Judge Michael Clark sentence Olayiwola to three years in prison.

Ritchot said it is believed Olayiwola was part of a larger criminal enterprise that targeted two oil and gas companies — Tamarack Valley Energy and Harmonica Oil and Gas — in a sophisticated scheme diverting bill payments between the two companies into their own bank accounts.

Court heard criminals posing as employees of Harmonica Oil and Gas sent emails in November 2023 to Tamarack Valley Energy changing their billing information, resulting in four payments totalling $668,000 being deposited into four bank accounts Olayiwola opened under fictitious names.

“It wasn’t until the president of Harmonica Oil and Gas made a personal visit to TVE on Jan. 2, 2024, to inquire about a lack of payment that they learned about the compromised emails and that TVE had been defrauded,” Ritchot said.

Calgary police identified the bank accounts and, after further investigation, connected them to two Winnipeg IP addresses associated with Olayiwola, whose connection to the scheme was further bolstered by bank security video that captured him making 32 ATM withdrawals of $5,000 each.

“That’s an enormous amount of money, an enormous amount of cash — all untraceable,” Ritchot said.

Olayiwola spent another $134,000 on luxury clothing and “lifestyle” purchases online and in Winnipeg, and transferred nearly $200,000 to two unknown account holders.

Police executed search warrants for Olayiwola’s condominium and 2020 Mercedes Benz — both purchased within days of the first fraudulent deposit — and seized fraudulent bank and credit cards and items from a floor safe, including a Rolex watch, gold cufflinks and a pair of Cartier sunglasses.

“More evidence that he likes the nicer things in life,” Ritchot said. “He has excellent taste, there is no question about that, but he’s using the TVE funds to fund his lifestyle.”

“He has excellent taste, there is no question about that, but he’s using the TVE funds to fund his lifestyle.”

An analysis of Olayiwola’s cellphone revealed numerous text exchanges with criminal “associates” discussing the creation of false identity documents and how to open fake bank accounts.

Tamarack Valley Energy suffered not only financial losses, but damage to its reputation and had to introduce beefed-up cybersecurity measures, Ritchot said.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, there were more than 51,000 reports of fraud in 2024, totalling $647 million in losses, up from $530 million in 2022 and $383 million in 2021.

“The trend is only going up,” Ritchot said, noting only an estimated five to 10 per cent of cases are reported to authorities.

“So, these are staggering numbers to hear,” she said.

Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds argued Olayiwola was lured into the enterprise by shadowy online criminals he did not identify.

“The individuals who enticed him and gave him the steps that should be taken really have no concern for the pawn who they are able to get to work for them,” Simmonds said. “It’s not a situation where he went looking for trouble.

“I know the choices I made were wrong and I deeply regret everything.”

Simmonds recommended that Olayiwola — a University of Winnipeg environmental studies student expecting his first child — be sentenced to no more than two years less a day in jail and that sentencing be delayed until January so he can complete his current school term.

“It would have been easy for him to give (school) up, but rehabilitation requires the ability to put one’s life back together to demonstrate levels of remorse,” Simmonds said.

Olayiwola told court his involvement in the criminal scheme and subsequent arrest has been a “wake-up call.”

“I know the choices I made were wrong and I deeply regret everything,” he said. “I am doing everything in my power to turn my life around.”

Clark will sentence Olayiwola at a later date.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca