A Salt Lake City woman has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release after admitting to embezzling nearly $1.4 million from her employer, a Utah-based lending services company.
Benedicta Okunlola, age 32, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in November 2025. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby ordered Okunlola to pay back $1,398,014 in restitution, with a lump sum payment of $5,000 due at or before sentencing.
Court records show that between 2020 and 2025, Okunlola used her position as a Merchant Growth Specialist to issue more than two thousand prepaid gift cards for herself, her online art business, and family members. She was responsible for purchasing gift cards intended for marketing promotions and incentives and had exclusive access to make these purchases for the company’s commercial customers. To avoid detection, Okunlola kept the value of fraudulent gift card purchases below thresholds that would have required secondary approval.
According to authorities, she used the gift cards on personal expenses including rent payments, online shopping, groceries, rideshares, dining out, and international travel to South Korea, Japan, South Africa, and Portugal. Over four years, the total amount stolen reached $1.4 million.
“Okunlola stole from her employer to fund her jet-setting lifestyle,” said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah. “It is our hope that her sentence will serve as deterrent from others thinking about engaging in fraud. By teaming up with our law enforcement partners we will continue to investigate and prosecute these cases.”
“Benedicta Okunlola’s actions were not a mistake or a lapse in judgement. It was a deliberate scheme driven by greed,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls of the Salt Lake City FBI. “The defendant violated a position of trust and caused real financial harm to her employer. This FBI remains committed to investigating complex financial crimes and holding offenders accountable.”
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Luisa Gough prosecuted the case.
