A Nigerian, Abiola Kayode, 37, who had been on the most wanted list of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been extradited from Ghana to Nebraska, U.S., following a Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud Indictment, filed in August 2019.
According to a statement by the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Nebraska, Kayode was arrested by authorities in Ghana and handed to FBI special agents who brought him to Nebraska pursuant to a U.S. request for his extradition.
He had an initial appearance on the Indictment on 11 December 2024, and was ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson to remain detained pending trial.
How Kayode allegedly operated
Kayode is alleged to have participated in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme from January 2015 to September 2016.The BEC scheme defrauded businesses in the District of Nebraska and elsewhere of more than $6 million.
The indictment shows that Kayode’s co-conspirators posed as the chief executive officer, president, owner, or other executive of the targeted company.
Using e-mail accounts spoofed to make it appear as though they were from the company’s true business executive, Kayode’s co-conspirators directed business employees or recipients of the e-mail to complete wire transfers.
The business employees, believing the requests were legitimate, complied with the wire transfer requests and wired the money as instructed by Kayode’s co-conspirators.
It is alleged Kayode provided bank account information to the co-conspirators who sent the fraudulent e-mails, and which directed business employees to wire money to accounts controlled by Kayode and others.
These bank accounts largely belonged to victims of internet romance scams, who were instructed by co-conspirators to transfer the funds to other bank accounts.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, some of Kayode’s co-conspirators have already been convicted and sentenced.
One of the fraudsters, Adewale Aniyeloye, who sent spoofed e-mails to the target business, was sentenced in February 2019 to 96 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $1,570,938.05 in restitution.
Pelumi Fawehinimi, a bank account facilitator, was sentenced in March 2019 to 72 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $1,014,159.60 in restitution.
Onome Ijomone, a romance scammer, was sentenced in January 2020 to 60 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $508,934.40 in restitution after his successful extradition from Poland. Other co-conspirators remain at large.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing Kayode’s extradition.
Alex Ogunshakin, a co-conspirator who provided bank accounts for the scheme, was sentenced to 45 months’ imprisonment in October 2024 after his successful extradition from Nigeria.
“Four years ago, we identified six Nigerian nationals suspected of defrauding individual victims and businesses in Nebraska and other states of millions of dollars,” said FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel.
“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; we are coming for you. Dismantling cyber-criminal groups that victimise U.S. 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.”
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