Man who played role in $5,000 scam avoids jail
KITCHENER — A man who took part in a scam that fleeced an elderly Waterloo resident of $5,000 narrowly avoided jail on Friday.
Justice John Lynch made it “abundantly clear” he would have sent Omorede Agbonifo to jail if he had a prior record or had not made full restitution.
The judge agreed to a joint recommendation from the Crown attorney and Agbonifo’s defence lawyer for a conditional discharge.
Agbonifo, 40, a full-time college student in Toronto, pleaded guilty to fraud in a scam that saw a Waterloo man receive a letter claiming he had won $2.6 million in a Publishers Clearing House lottery.
The letter contained a phone number to call.
When the man called the number, which turned out to be in Nigeria, he was told he needed to deposit $5,000 in a bank account to pay the taxes.
He did and the money was withdrawn.
His prize money never arrived and he went to police, who tracked the bank account to Agbonifo.
Agbonifo only got a small amount of the $5,000, defence lawyer Sean Safa said. Two other men got the lion’s share, he said. Only Agbonifo was charged.
He apologized in court and said he won’t do it again.
“Well, I hope it doesn’t happen again, sir, because, quite frankly, it is a very serious matter,” Lynch said. “It’s appalling conduct.
“We read about this and hear about this and I’m sure that most members of the community think, ‘How can you fall for this?’ Well, the truth is the individuals committing this sort of offence pick on the vulnerable. They pick on individuals that will fall for this. And perhaps they try 50 times before someone buys into their scheme.”
The Waterloo man wrote in a victim impact statement that the crime caused him much stress.
“I’ve been very tight for money because of this,” he wrote.
Agbonifo did 40 hours of volunteer work before being sentenced. Lynch ordered him to do 30 more hours.
And he noted that Agbonifo will only get a discharge if he follows all of the conditions during one year of probation. If he breaks any rules, he could be brought back to court on the fraud charge.