$50 Million International Identity Theft Ring First Discovered by Edina Police

Two kingpins at the center of a $50 million identity theft ring first discovered by  were sentenced Monday, Aug. 13, to lengthy stays in prison.

Julian Okeayaninneh and Olugbenga Adeniran, respectively of California and New York, were sentenced in Minneapolis this week for their roles in a massive bank fraud conspiracy that operated in six states and victimized more than 500 individuals around the world. 

Okeayaninneh, 44, was sentenced to 324 months in federal prison on one count of bank fraud conspiracy, 11 counts of bank fraud, six counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of trafficking in false authentication features.

During Okeayaninneh's sentencing, Judge Michael J. Davis referred to the identity theft ring as "one of the largest frauds I've ever seen."

"The sophisticated means used and the use of bank insiders in this fraud is troubling to the court," David said. "You are the leader, and it’s a sad day that I have to send someone to prison for such a long time. But you deserve the sentence you receive."

Judge Davis also sentenced Adeniran, 36, to 266 months in federal prison on one count of bank fraud conspiracy, four counts of bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft.

The identity theft ring was discovered three years ago, when  flagged a voided transaction at . The Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force then worked backward from arrests at Southdale to connect cases in Wisconsin, Iowa and beyond.

Edina Detective Dave Lindman was also integral to the ongoing investigation. Lindman served on the task force, working behind the scenes to uncover a substantial number of fraud cases.

That ongoing investigation—dubbed Operation Starburst—has already yielded at least 137 victims in Minnesota and more than 10-thousand around the world.

"Putting these criminals and their cohorts behind bars will prevent many more Minnesotans from becoming identity theft victims," said Patrick Henry, task force commander, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. 

For his part in busting the fraud ring—among other accomplishments—Moore was presented with Edina's first-ever Mike Siitari Officer of the Year Award earlier this year.

The task force raided a storage locker in California, which they say was controlled by Okeayaninneh. The personal identifications of 8,700 victims were inside of the locker, alongside 140 passport photos and commercial checks worth $18.5 million.

Between 2006 and March 2011, Okeayaninneh and Adeniran worked with co-conspirators to buy and sell stolen bank customer information used to open fraudulent bank and credit card accounts, apply for loans and obtain cash. They also drafted checks against the fraudulent bank accounts, acquired cash using the credit cards and co-opted home equity lines of credit without the knowledge of true account holders.

A number of financial institutions were also victimized by the fraud ring, including American Express, Associated Bank, Bank of America, Capital One, Guaranty Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, TCF Bank, US Bank, Wachovia Bank, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo Bank. 

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