JH stated after gaining her trust, "General Miller" asked for her assistance in getting his personal belongings back to the U.S., but said he needed JH to send money, a lot of money – $60,000. The elderly widow showed the FBI a Bank of America cashier's check receipt for $60,000 made payable to Full Circle Imports Export in Richmond, Texas, a company owned by Alabi.

What's more, JH stated during her initial interview with the Westerly Police Department on Jan. 18 that she recently sold her home and was attempting to withdraw the proceeds of the $240,000 in her Westerly Community account to send to "General Miller" at Full Circle Imports Exports.

The $240,000 was never sent because employees at Westerly Community became suspicious that something was amiss and contacted Westerly Police. The credit union put a hold on JH's account, according to court documents.

Over the next several months, investigators determined at least 11 victims across the U.S. mailed more than $915,000 to Full Circle Imports Exports, according to an FBI affidavit that was filed in federal court in May. At that time, FBI investigators identified at least 15 additional suspected victims that had not yet been interviewed but whose names appeared on cashier's checks totaling $691,000 that were deposited into Alabi's credit union and bank accounts.

The victims who were interviewed said they were misled by an individual feigning romantic intentions or by an individual posing as a family member with an investment opportunity. The victims believed the money they were sending was to help their overseas love interest or for managing their investment funds. The FTC reported that $1.3 billion has been lost to romance scammers in the last five years, the highest amount of any fraud category. These scams tend to peak around holidays like Valentine's Day, as scammers prey on the emotional vulnerability of individuals looking to make romantic connections.

Court documents showed a woman identified as Alabi's wife was allegedly involved in these schemes, but there have been no criminal charges filed against her by federal authorities.

FBI investigators said Alabi and his wife each opened separate accounts at the $1.3 billion First Service Credit Union in Houston, which were used to deposit victims' funds and to launder the stolen money. They also opened accounts at Bank of America and Comerica Bank, which Alabi and his wife also used to deposit victims' funds and launder stolen money.

FSCU records showed that in January 2022, $24,189 was wire transferred to Shouguang Sunrise Industry Co., LTD's bank account in China, and an additional $60,000 was wire transferred to Shouguang Sunstar International Trading Co.'s bank account in China, according to court documents.

In August 2021, Comerica Bank records showed that $24,490 was wire transferred to Ifourni Company Limited in China and an additional $19,600 was wire transferred to Shouguang Sunstar International. And in October 2021, $128,690 was wire transferred from the Bank of America account to Shouguang Sunstar International Trading Co.'s account, court records showed.