Match.com fraudster ordered to repay £200,000 after posing as fake US Army captain to deceive lonely women out of their life savings
The duped women believed they were speaking to Captain Morgan Travis
A CONMAN who posed as a US Army captain to scam lonely women out of their life savings has been ordered to repay more than £200,000.
Tosin Femi Olasemo used a picture of a soldier wearing full military uniform as his profile picture on website Match.com to ask for cash to help pay for leave to visit them.
Now he has been ordered to pay back the thousands he took from his victims who believed they were talking to Captain Morgan Travis, a serving soldier in Afghanistan.
Olasemo claimed he was stationed at Camp Joyce, a remote base in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, where about 700 U.S. soldiers, lived.
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Prosecutor Ruth Smith said money sent to fraudster Olasemo - in Britain on a student visa - soon started spiralling into a fortune.
Ms Smith said: "He conducted and online dating fraud exploiting lonely and vulnerable women by pretending he was an American soldier in Afghanistan to get money."
Cardiff Crown Court heard Olasemo's main victim was Tine Jorgensen, 47, from Denmark, who had two children and was recently widowed.
In May 2011 her husband died and by December 2012 she had signed up to Match.com to see if she could find love again.
Olasemo told her he was serving in Camp Joyce and sent her a picture of a soldier with the name "Travis" embroidered on his military jacket.
Ms Smith said: "She began talking to him over the video service Yahoo Messenger but he informed her he couldn't send live video of himself due to security risks in Afghanistan - something she accepted.
"Olasemo said he could get some leave but would have to pay administration fees and she said she would help him on the understanding she would get her money back."
The court heard she paid out more than £200,000 before her bank reported the case to police as possible fraud.
And despite discovering Morgan Travis was a lie dreamt up by Olasemo, Mrs Jorgensen continued the online relationship with him.
Olasemeo told her he committed the fraud because he had borrowed money from Nigerian militants and now owed them money under pain of death.
Ms Smith said: "Unfortunately she still felt an attachment to the defendant and stayed in contact for some time and sent him more money until a lady claiming to be the Danish wife of Olasemo contacted her.
"As a result of that she contacted police and he was arrested at his home in Cardiff."
When police searched his computer found in January 2015 they found "conversations with numerous other women as Travis”.
They also found several false Nigerian passports and driving licenses.
Olasemo pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud between December 2012 and October 2014.
He admitted four counts of fraud, four counts of possession of false identity documents, three counts of possession for use in fraud and one count of acquiring criminal property.
In July last year Judge Eleri Rees QC jailed him for four and a half years and told him he had created a "tissue of lies".
She told him: "This was a sophisticated, sustained and planned conduct against ladies who became vulnerable in their dealings with you."
Police contacted the United States military to try and work out who the soldier was - but they were unable to identify him.
He returned to court and was ordered to repay more than £200,000 of the money he'd duped from the women.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "An investigation took place which revealed that Olasemo had links to Nigerian bank accounts containing more than £150,000 and land purchased in Nigeria for around £47,000.
"In addition, he was found in possession of more than £1,100 when he was arrested.
"Olasemo had a benefit from his crime totalling £253,347.
"The court ordered that £200,707 is repaid to his two victims who reside in Denmark."
Olasemo must also sell his land in Nigeria within three months or have a further two-and-a-half years added to his sentence.
When he is released from prison he will be booted out of the country.
"As always, we would encourage those using dating sites or other internet forums to be vigilant. Never send money or provide personal details to strangers or to people you have only met online."
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