Mahwah Man Sentenced To Six Years For Defrauding Tiny Island Nation Of $3.5M

A Mahwah man who plead guilty to defrauding the small island nation of Timor-Leste of more than $3.5 million through a sham accounting firm was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison, U.S. Attorney Fish J. Fishman said.

Bobby Boye, 52, also known as Bobby Ajiboye and Bobby Aji-Boye, pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after he reportedly used a fake law and accounting firm he created to represent Timor-Leste, formerly known as East Timor, in a foreign-aid program.

Fishman’s office called the country Boye admitted defrauding “Country A,” but the nation’s representatives revealed its identity on its website.

Related: Authorities: Bergen County Man Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Foreign Country Out Of $3.5 Million

U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $3.5 million in restitution.

Boye was an international legal advisor for Timor-Leste and served on a committee responsible for reviewing and evaluating bids for a multi-million dollar contract to provide legal and tax account advice to the nation, authorities previously said.

Boye created Opus & Best Law Services, LLC, a sham firm allegedly based in New York and submitted a bid on the firm’s behalf for the contact that contained several omissions and misrepresentations. Boye said the firm was registered in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, had several employees on its payroll, and performed prior consulting work for another country, all lies, authorities said.

Timor-Leste awarded Opus & Best the contract and named Boye as one of two project coordinators acting on the country’s behalf. He had the authority to receive and approve payment invoices.

Between June and December 2012, the Timor-Leste wired more than $3.5 million to Opus & Best’s business checking account, which Boye controlled.

Fishman said Boyd used part of the money to purchase four New Jersey properties for more than $1.5 million, a $215,000 Rolls Royce, $172,000 Bentley, and $100,000 Range Rover, and two designer watches for nearly $20,000.