Bolaji Bolarinwa, aged 50, and Isiaka Bolarinwa, aged 67, from Moorestown, came into the spotlight when one of the victims confided in her college professor. The professor, in turn, promptly notified the FBI, as revealed by U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Philip Sellinger.
The couple, who originally hailed from Nigeria, were residing in New Jersey as U.S. citizens when they enticed two individuals to join them, Sellinger revealed.
According to the U.S. attorney, the individuals involved in this case used a deceitful tactic to deceive their victims. They falsely promised them a better life and education in the United States, only to later betray them.
According to the U.S. attorney, she not only kept them under constant surveillance but also isolated them from other people.
According to Platkin, Bolaji Bolarinwa took away the passport of the first victim when she arrived in the United States in December 2015.
According to Platkin, Isiaka Bolarinwa was well aware of his wife’s threats and abusive behavior towards the victim. Additionally, Bolarinwa directly benefited from the victim’s cooking, cleaning, and childcare duties.
According to him, the couple proceeded to enlist another individual as their second victim, who would come to the United States on a student visa.
Upon her arrival in April 2016, Bolaji Bolarinwa wasted no time in taking away her passport and pressuring her into performing household chores and looking after the children, Platkin revealed.
According to him, she resorted to using physical abuse more prominently this time.
The attorney general revealed that the second victim was also subjected to physical abuse by her husband. Eventually, she found the courage to confide in a professor at the college she was attending.
The couple decided to decline a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors after an FBI investigation and chose to go to trial instead.
“Picture yourself arriving in a foreign country, filled with hopes for a brighter future, only to find yourself trapped with nowhere to go and no one to seek assistance from,” emphasized James E. Dennehy, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Newark. “The individuals involved in this case endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of their captors, enduring years of both physical and psychological abuse.”
Special agents from Dennehy’s office were credited by Sellinger for their investigation, which ultimately led to the guilty verdict. The verdict was secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender, in collaboration with Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson from the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
