US Extradites Nigerian for $6M Fraud

Susan Lehr, the US attorney for Nebraska, said that 37-year-old Abiola Kayode would be sent from Ghana to the District of Nebraska to face charges in connection with a supposed $6 million cyber fraud scheme.US Extradites Nigerian for $6M Fraud

This comes after he was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in August 2019.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska said Thursday that Kayode was arrested by Ghanaian police in April 2023.

Businesses in the District of Nebraska and beyond lost more than $6 million in the BEC scheme. A case was filed in Omaha, Nebraska, in August 2019.

US Extradites Nigerian for $6M Fraud

Law enforcement in the Republic of Ghana arrested Kayode in April 2023 after the United States asked for his extradition. In the end, Ghanaian authorities gave in to the request and let FBI agents take Kayode to the Denver District of Nebraska.

“On December 11, 2024, Kayode made his first appearance on the Indictment.” Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson of the United States told Kayode to stay in jail until his trial.

Along with Kayode, the indictment says that they pretended to be the CEO, president, owner, or another executive of the company that they were after.

Kayode’s partners in crime are said to have used fake email accounts to make it look like the messages came from the real business executives of the company, telling employees or recipients to complete wire transfers.

Authorities say Kayode gave them information about bank accounts that were used to send illegal money. Many of these accounts belonged to people who fell for online romance scams and were forced to send the stolen money.

One of Kayode’s accomplices, Adewale Aniyeloye, was sentenced to 96 months in prison and $1.57 million in restitution in February 2019. Another was Pelumi Fawehinimi, who got 72 months in prison and $1.01 million in restitution in March 2019. Onome Ijomone was extradited from Poland and given a sentence of 60 months in prison and $508,934 in restitution in January 2020. Finally, Alex Ogunshakin was sentenced to 45 months in October 2024 after being extradited from Nigeria for providing bank accounts used in the scheme.

FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said, “Four years ago, we named six Nigerians who we thought were stealing millions of dollars from people and businesses in Nebraska and other states.”

As of today, Abiola Kayode is the second of those co-conspirators to be sent to Nebraska to stand trial. This is our message to the other four criminals: we are coming for you. The FBI, DOJ, and our international law enforcement partners are working hard to break up cybercriminal groups that target U.S. citizens.

Together with our partners in Ghana, the FBI will continue to go after and bring to justice criminals who are involved in Business Email Compromise and other types of fraud. These partners include the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, and the Ghana Immigration Service.

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