The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the extradition of 37-year-old Nigerian national, Abiola Kayode, to the District of Nebraska to face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The indictment, originally filed in August 2019, accuses Kayode of being part of a sophisticated Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme that defrauded businesses of over $6 million between January 2015 and September 2016.
Kayode was apprehended in Ghana in April 2023 following a U.S. request for his extradition. In collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Ghanaian authorities handed Kayode over to FBI agents, who transported him to Nebraska. On December 11, 2024, Kayode appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson, who ordered his detention pending trial.
According to court documents, Kayode and his co-conspirators targeted businesses by posing as senior executives—such as CEOs and company owners—and using spoofed email addresses to deceive employees.
The fraudulent emails directed employees to wire funds to accounts controlled by the conspirators. Victims, believing the requests were legitimate, transferred large sums of money, unknowingly fueling the criminal enterprise.
Kayode is accused of supplying bank account information to facilitate the transfer of stolen funds. Many of these accounts belonged to victims of internet romance scams, who were manipulated into transferring money on behalf of the perpetrators.
It was learnt that several members of Kayode’s network have already faced justice. In February 2019, Adewale Aniyeloye, who sent the spoofed emails, was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.57 million in restitution. Pelumi Fawehinimi, who facilitated fraudulent bank accounts, received a 72-month prison sentence in March 2019 and was required to pay $1.01 million in restitution.
Onome Ijomone, a romance scammer deported from Poland, was sentenced to 60 months in prison in January 2020 and ordered to pay $508,934.40 in restitution. Similarly, Alex Ogunshakin, another co-conspirator who provided bank accounts, was extradited from Nigeria and sentenced to 45 months in prison in October 2024.
“This extradition marks another step in our effort to dismantle cybercriminal groups that prey on businesses and individuals in the United States. Abiola Kayode is the second of six identified Nigerian co-conspirators to face trial in Nebraska. To the remaining fugitives, our message is clear: we are coming for you”, said Eugene Kowel, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Omaha Division
The FBI praised its international partners, including the Ghanaian Office of the Attorney General, Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, and the Ghana Immigration Service, for their cooperation in securing Kayode’s extradition.
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