US-Based Nigerian Pleads Guilty in $50m Wire Fraud, Romance Scam Case
A United States–based Nigerian, Animashaun Adebo, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a series of business email compromise (BEC) and romance scams that defrauded victims of more than $50 million.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Adebo—also known as “Kazeem” and “Kazeem Animashaun”—entered his plea before a federal court in Brooklyn. Prosecutors revealed that Adebo and his co‑conspirators orchestrated multiple fraudulent schemes targeting individuals and small businesses across the United States, particularly within the Eastern District of New York.
Investigations showed that between April 2021 and March 2022, the syndicate engaged in elaborate BEC schemes. Victims, including parties to real estate transactions and employees of targeted companies, were deceived by spoofed email accounts resembling legitimate business partners. These fraudulent communications instructed victims to wire funds into accounts controlled by Adebo and his associates.
The statement further disclosed that the stolen funds were laundered through shell company accounts in the U.S. and abroad, sometimes using unsuspecting intermediaries to conceal the illicit origin. Adebo also laundered proceeds through the purchase of luxury watches and via an illegal money‑exchange operation run by his co‑defendant, Idowu Ademoroti, who has already been convicted and sentenced. Part of the proceeds ultimately flowed into corporate bank accounts in Nigeria.
Other defendants include Nelson Ojeriakhi, arrested in Paris and extradited to the U.S. in July 2025, who pleaded guilty later that year and awaits sentencing. A fourth suspect, Noguan Eboigbe, remains at large.
This case underscores the transnational nature of cyber‑enabled fraud, with funds moving across jurisdictions and implicating Nigerian banking channels. It also highlights the U.S. government’s continued focus on prosecuting Nigerian nationals involved in financial crimes abroad.
Separately, in April 2025, another U.S.-based Nigerian, Ifeanyi Ugwu, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money‑transmitting business involving more than $5 million in illicit funds. He faces up to five years’ imprisonment.
