Olalekan Jacob Ponle, known otherwise as Woodberry has pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
He also agreed to forfeit to the foreign government $8 million in wire fraud proceeds, as well as luxury cars and watches.
Woodberry, a known associate of the now-imprisoned internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, recently pleaded guilty to count one of the indictments in a plea declaration filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division on April 6, according to the Peoples Gazette.
According to his plea agreement, he must repay the $8 million he fraudulently received from the seven companies he defrauded.
Defendant understands that by pleading guilty, he will subject to forfeiture to the United States all right, title, and interest that he has in any property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offence, stated the document containing Ponle’s signed plea declaration.
Woodberry was also asked to relinquish ownership of the luxury cars and designer watches he had stashed in Dubai.
Rolls-Royce Cullinan (J9153), Lamborghini Urus (N4973), and Mercedes-Benz G-class are among the high-end vehicles. (G68816).
Four Rolex watches, one Patek Philippe watch, three Audemars Piguet watches, three gold and diamond-studded earrings, and six gold neck chains were also seized.
He surrendered 151.8 Bitcoin to the US government last year.
Woodberry was arrested in Dubai on June 10, 2020, alongside Ramon Hushpuppi Abbas, who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for a similar fraud charge.
Woodberry was known for wearing and flaunting expensive designer wear and flaunting his illicit wealth to his massive Instagram followers, the majority of whom had no idea his luxury lifestyle was funded by cybercrime.