AN acclaimed gospel singer who fleeced lonely women out of more than £120,000 after meeting them on a dating site is facing a lengthy prison sentence.
Oluwamayola Ajayi pretended to be an American fighter pilot, an oil executive and a grieving widower in his ploy to win the affections of four love interests on Match. com.
With a string of aliases the 31-year-old conman, of Sherman Gardens, Chadwell Heath, resorted to outlandish methods to dupe his internet lovers out of cash.
In one case he sent e-mail threats, purportedly from a captor, claiming he had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom to secure his release.
Ajayi – who under the stage name MaioJoe was nominated for best international act at the 2011 Gospel Music Awards in Ireland – blew the cash on a lavish lifestyle including a luxury holiday in South Africa.
He was convicted of conspiracy to defraud after a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court and faces sentence later this week.
The court heard how he gained the women's trust before persuading them to hand over their savings to fund business enterprises insisting the cash would be repaid.
Ajayi's victims, who all live in America and Canada, were "completely taken in" by his elaborate lies.
They were left humiliated and some were financially ruined by the scam, which ran between November 2009 and August 2010.
One victim handed over more than $125,000 (£78,662) from her late husband's life savings and dead mother's estate, which she had earmarked for retirement.
Another disabled woman from Nova Scotia was duped into giving Ajayi almost $38,000 (£23,913) after he pretended to be Travis David McFly, a United States Airforce pilot serving in Iraq.
"He told a story to her about some gold bars he had found and that he wanted to get them out of Iraq so they could secure their financial future," said prosecutor Marcus Rickard.
"This inevitably led to the woman having to supply money via an intermediary in London, to enable the gold bars to be taken from Iraq.
"She was completely taken in by him and intended to spend the rest of her life with him.
"At one point, she arranged to meet him at an airport and waited for five hours for him, but he did not turn up.
"This has left her flat broke and deeply embarrassed."
Ajayi pocketed around $30,000 (£18,873) from another internet lover.
He posed as a project manager in the oil and gas industry to fleece $7,000 (£4,404) from his final victim, telling her he needed the cash for expenses including a Crude Oil Lifting Licence.
He told all but one of the women that he was a white widower with children from Britain called Mark West, who was currently living in the US.
Ajayi funnelled his ill-gotten gains through false bank accounts, mainly using the fictional identity of José Fernando Rodrigues-Guedes.
Mr Rickard added: "The defendant systematically and repeatedly misrepresented himself to lonely females using the internet and cheated them out of £120,000 from November 2009 until August 2010.
"The victims of his deceptions have been left embarrassed and fearful, and they have all suffered substantial financial loss or ruin."
Ajayi was arrested last August 16 at the terraced home he shares with his wife.
During interview in a prepared statement, he insisted one of his victims was the girlfriend of a friend who owed him money.
He claimed he used an account in the name of Rodrigues-Guedes as he did not have one in his own name.
The computer equipment on which police found scores of e-mails with money transfers, credit card details, bank statements, personal information and photographs belonged to the "real" Rodrigues-Guedes, Ajayi claimed.
But Rodrigues-Guedes has never been found, prompting police to believe he is simply an identity dreamed up by Ajayi to carry out his con.
Ajayi denied conspiracy to defraud, fraud, concealing criminal property, using criminal property and two counts of possessing articles for use in frauds.
He was unanimously convicted by a jury on all counts after a trial after admitting a single count of possessing a false identity document with intent.
Adjourning sentence, Judge Sarah Paneth told Ajayi he was facing a "lengthy" prison term.
