Fifth Individual Convicted in Nigerian Money Laundering Scheme Targeting Americans with Romance and BEC Scams
Published
- Fifth conviction: The last of the five accused individuals was convicted for participating in a Nigerian fraud scheme targeting U.S. citizens.
- Exploiting the pandemic: The convicted and four co-conspirators orchestrated pandemic relief unemployment insurance fraud.
- Scams and fraud: They also laundered money from romance and BEC scams, targeting vulnerable people and Puerto Rico and Missouri businesses.
Federal authorities have convicted the fifth defendant, Oluwasegun Baiyewu, prosecuted for wire, mail, and access device fraud schemes in connection with an extensive Nigerian transnational operation targeting vulnerable Americans via sophisticated elder fraud schemes and multiple vectors of financial exploitation during 2020 and 2021.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico secured the money laundering conviction following a comprehensive 22-day trial in San Juan.
Multi-Layered Fraud Infrastructure
Court evidence revealed that five individuals collaborated to orchestrate money laundering operations supporting romance scams, pandemic relief unemployment insurance fraud, and business email compromise (BEC) schemes:
- Oluwaseun Adelekan, 40, Staten Island, New York
- Temitope Omotayo, 40, Staten Island, New York
- Ifeoluwa Dudubo, 37, of Austin, Texas;
- Temitope Suleiman, 37, Richmond, Texas
- Oluwasegun Baiyewu, 37, of Richmond, Texas
The defendants systematically targeted elderly and vulnerable Americans across California, Illinois, Washington, and Nevada, while simultaneously executing BEC attacks against corporate entities in Puerto Rico and Missouri.
Following the successful execution of the fraud, the criminal network conducted hundreds of financial transactions to obscure the origins of the proceeds.
The laundering methodology involved purchasing used vehicles, which were subsequently shipped overseas to Nigeria, thereby establishing a circular flow of illicit proceeds back to the crime organization's operational base.
Coordinated Federal Response and Enforcement Implications
The prosecution involved multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and FBI San Juan Cyber Task Force, supported by the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force under the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force framework.
“The defendant participated in a money laundering scheme turning illicit gains into a facade of legitimacy, especially those involving seniors or other vulnerable people, and businesses in Puerto Rico and the U.S,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico.
The conviction establishes precedent for prosecuting foreign nationals who provide essential financial services to cybercriminal enterprises, regardless of their physical location relative to the primary fraud schemes.
This enforcement strategy significantly expands liability exposure for international money laundering networks supporting various fraud operations targeting American consumers.
In other news, a BEC scam targeted aviation executives via phishing emails and fake Microsoft 365 login pages, and a woman and her Ghanaian accomplice defrauded over 100 individuals in a $2 million COVID unemployment insurance scam.
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