Olalekan Jacob Ponle, popularly known as Mr. Woodberry has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and has agreed to forfeit $8 million in proceeds of crime as well as luxury cars and items in a plea deal. Woodberry is a known accomplice to the now-imprisoned cyber fraudster, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi. The district court for Northern Illinois, US has set July 11 for Woodberry's sentencing.
His plea deal reads, “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 offense.”
The forfeited luxury items include expensive cars such as Rolls Royce Cullinan, Lamborghini Urus, and Mercedes-Benz G-class.
Other forfeited items are 4 Rolex watches, 3 Audemars Piguet watches, 1 Patek Phillipe watch, 3 gold and diamond-studded earrings, and 6 gold neck chains.
Woodberry already forfeited 151.8 Bitcoin (about $4 million) to the American government last year.
On June 2020, Woodberry, Hushpuppi, and other associates were arrested in Dubai and later extradited to the US to face multiple criminal charges.
Hushpuppi was sentenced in November 2022 to 11 years in a US prison and to pay $1.7 million in restitution.