Four Nigerians were among 25 defendants convicted on April 24 for their roles in the fraud and money laundering scheme, commonly referred to as “business email compromise”.
They included Emmauel Okereke, aka Omo Igbo, 42; Olalekan Bashiru, aka Ola Bash, 36; Jeremiah Agina, 29; and Ademola Balogun, 43 — were Nigerian nationals.
According to the United States Attorney’s office, they were among those who defrauded more than 1,000 victims of $215 million across 19 countries through email fraud scheme.
Another five — Ayobami Osas Christopher, aka Lovely Man, 30; Ayorinde Emmanuel Adebayo, 35; Olabode Bankole, 37; Chukwuemeka Evulukwu, 35; and Kingsley Owusu, 37 — were naturalised US citizens of Nigerian descent.
One Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi, 40, whose nationality was not mentioned, was also named as a defendant in a separate trial of the same crime.
According to court documents and evidence presented in court, individuals, businesses, and other organizations in the United States, were targeted and hacked by Nigerian-linked fraud organizations.
Their objective was to gain access to e-mail accounts held by individual users. The co-conspirators would then monitor the communications, and other activities of the individual email users to learn about their business practices and contacts.
After gaining sufficient intelligence about the nature of a hacking victim’s activities, the co-conspirators would send a fraudulent e-mail to either the hacking victim, or to someone communicating with the hacking victim, requesting payment.
Because the co-conspirators were familiar with the victims’ activities, the fraudulent e-mails were crafted in a way to convince recipients that the request for payment was for legitimate business activities. Once members of the conspiracy obtained payment from victims, conspiracy members used a web of fraudulently created bank accounts and cash transfer systems to launder and distribute the funds.
Approximately $50 million of the stolen money was used to purchase cashier’s checks that were presented for payment to the New Dolton Currency Exchange, a Chicago-area money service business owned and operated by co-defendant Lon Goodman.
Goodman accepted cashier’s checks from co-conspirators who presented false identifications or presented checks payable to others. Goodman routinely accepted false know-your-customer information and continued doing business with individuals after being warned by banks that checks were obtained with stolen funds or otherwise returned as fraudulent.
When it became too risky to accept cashier’s checks in an individual’s name, Goodman would nonetheless accept checks from those individuals payable to Shell companies that those individuals controlled.
Each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors unique to the case, including each defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, their role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.
