A 37-year-old Nigerian, Abiola Kayode, who had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Cyber Criminal List, has been extradited from Ghana to Nebraska, United States.
This followed a conspiracy to commit wire fraud indictment filed against him in August 2019.
According to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Nebraska on Thursday, Kayode was arrested in April 2023 by Ghanaian authorities.
After a formal U.S. request for extradition, he was handed over to FBI special agents who brought him to Nebraska.
Judge Michael D. Nelson, ordered him to remain in custody until his trial.
Kayode is accused of being involved in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme that took place between January 2015 and September 2016, defrauding businesses in Nebraska and other states of more than $6 million.
The BEC scheme involved pretending to be business executives in order to deceive employees into making fraudulent wire transfers.
The emails, crafted to look authentic, persuaded businesses to transfer substantial amounts of money into accounts managed by Kayode and his associates.
Authorities assert that Kayode supplied bank account information used to channel illegal funds.
Many of these accounts were reportedly owned by victims of internet romance scams, who were coerced into transferring the stolen money to others.
Several of Kayode’s accomplices have already been prosecuted and they are:
Adewale Aniyeloye who was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.57 million in restitution in February 2019.
Pelumi Fawehinimi received a 72-month sentence in March 2019 and was required to pay $1.01 million .
Another accomplice, Onome Ijomone, was extradited from Poland and sentenced in January 2020 to 60 months in prison, along with a restitution of $508,934.
Alex Ogunshakin, an accomplice who supplied bank accounts for the scheme, was sentenced to 45 months in prison in October 2024 following his successful extradition from Nigeria.
In a statement, FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge, Eugene Kowel, said, “Four years ago, we identified six Nigerian nationals suspected of defrauding individual victims and businesses in Nebraska and other states of millions of dollars.
“Today, Abiola Kayode is the second of those co-conspirators to be extradited to stand trial in Nebraska.
“Our message to the remaining four co-conspirators is that we are coming for you.
“Dismantling cyber-criminal groups that victimize US citizens is a priority for the FBI, DOJ and our international law enforcement partners.
“The FBI, working together with our partners in Ghana, particularly the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL and the Ghana Immigration Service, will continue to pursue and bring to justice criminals who engage in Business Email Compromise and other fraud schemes.”