Ilesanmi Olaseni Adaramola, an Asheville attorney facing more than a dozen felony counts related to allegedly fraudulent real estate transactions, was charged with criminal contempt of court in Buncombe County this week after failing to appear for multiple hearings in a domestic custody case. An order for her arrest was issued Monday.
According to a court order signed April 30th by Buncombe District Court Judge Robin L. Merrell, Adaramola failed to appear for a scheduled hearing on April 7th. Following that hearing, a domestic judgement was awarded against Adaramola. She was then ordered to appear on April 17th. But, on April 16, Adaramola emailed the court a letter from the Nigerian Consulate’s Office indicating she was outside the United States and expected to return April 27. She did not appear for a subsequent court date on April 29, and her motion to continue was denied. Attempts to serve her at her Buncombe County law office and at an address in Virginia were unsuccessful, the order states.
According to a custody warrant issued in conjunction with the April 30th order, the court found that Adaramola missed three court dates, including two where she was ordered to appear regarding the custody matter; that she has strong ties to Nigeria and had traveled there in the week prior to the order; that she obtained a Virginia driver’s license in March; and that she was attempting to evade the jurisdiction of North Carolina.
Court records do show that a prior motion was successfully served to Adaramola on May 26th by the Buncombe County Sheriffs Department. However, an additional order to appear was issued with an appearance date scheduled for June 5th. After failing to appear again, an arrest warrant was issued.
Court records indicate an earlier motion for contempt of court was successfully served on Adaramola on May 26th by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department. The court entered an order on May 29th, requiring her to appear on June 5th. After she failed to appear again, an arrest warrant was issued.
Adaramola is a central figure in the Asheville Watchdog’s investigative series Equity Erased, which examined real estate transactions that cost dozens of Buncombe County residents, many of them elderly or Black, equity in their homes. She faces 12 felony counts related to those transactions and has continued to practice law in western North Carolina throughout the four years since she was first charged.
Court records show Adaramola was previously released on a $15,000 unsecured bond for her 2025 indictment in the Equity Erased case and a $3,000 unsecured bond for the original 2022 indictment. All charges in those cases are still pending.
