The United States Attorney’s Office says more than 1,000 victims across 19 countries were defrauded of about $215 million in a large-scale email fraud operation that has now resulted in multiple convictions, including several Nigerian nationals.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the office said 25 individuals were convicted on April 24 for their roles in the scheme, widely known as “business email compromise,” which also involved extensive money laundering activities.
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Among those convicted were four Nigerian nationals — Emmanuel Okereke (aka Omo Igbo), Olalekan Bashiru (aka Ola Bash), Jeremiah Agina, and Ademola Balogun.
Five others — Ayobami Osas Christopher (aka Lovely Man), Ayorinde Emmanuel Adebayo, Olabode Bankole, Chukwuemeka Evulukwu, and Kingsley Owusu — were identified as naturalised US citizens of Nigerian descent.
Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi was also named in a separate but related trial, although his nationality status was not specified.
How the Scheme Operated
Court documents revealed that the syndicate gained unauthorised access to email accounts of individuals and businesses, allowing them to monitor communications and gather intelligence on financial transactions.
Armed with this information, the conspirators sent carefully crafted fraudulent emails either to the account owners or their business contacts, requesting payments under the guise of legitimate transactions.
Because the emails closely mimicked real business dealings, victims were often deceived into transferring large sums of money.
Once funds were received through fraudulent act, the group moved the money through a network of fraudulent bank accounts and cash transfer systems to obscure its origin.
Investigators said about $50 million of the proceeds was converted into cashier’s cheques and processed through a Chicago-area currency exchange operated by co-defendant Lon Goodman, who allegedly accepted false identification and ignored warnings from financial institutions about suspicious transactions.
Authorities added that when risks increased, the conspirators routed payments through shell companies to continue laundering funds.
Global Impact and Seizures
Victims were identified across multiple countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and others.
Individual transfers ranged from thousands to millions of dollars, with one victim company alone losing $2.7 million to a shell account controlled by the group.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized or moved to forfeit assets including nearly $1.2 million in cashier’s cheques, cryptocurrency, and cash, as well as luxury items such as high-end watches and a residential property in Georgia.
The probe was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Postal Inspection Service, and the US Border Patrol Sandusky Bay Intelligence Unit.
Authorities said sentencing for the convicted individuals will be determined by the court, taking into account factors such as criminal history, level of involvement, and the nature of the offences.