Man admits to getting fraudulent student visa to attend MU, obtain Social Security card
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A man from St. Louis County admitted on Wednesday to fraudulently obtaining a student visa to be admitted to the University of Missouri and using the visa to get other government documents.
A Thursday press release from the Department of Justice says that Mercy Ojedeji, 24, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District Court of Missouri to unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents and one count of wire fraud. He will be sentenced on July 10.
The release says that Ojedeji used fake academic transcripts, recommendations, resume and a report about his English proficiency to get the visa from the University of Missouri and be admitted to its chemistry PhD program for the 2023 fall semester.
He also received a stipend and a tuition waiver. Ojedeji used the student visa to get a Social Security card from the Social Security Administration and used the number and other documents to open a bank account in November.
Court documents say that Ojedeji was put on academic probation in November 2023 after he did not attend class, take any exams, join a research group or attend his assistantship. He was kicked out of the graduate program in January 2024, which also canceled his student visa, court documents say.
He then obtained documents – acting like his visa was still valid – to get a Missouri driver’s license the next month, court documents say.
An investigation into Ojedeji began when US Postal inspectors were tipped off about a romance fraud scheme from victims who mailed packages containing money and gift cards to someone associated with Ojedeji, court documents and the release says. Packages were tracked by Nigerian internet protocol addresses, the release says.
Ojedeji in total allegedly took $1,014,630 in the scheme from 193 packages, court documents say. The release says that Ojedeji has denied being involved in romance fraud.
