See what US court did to British-Nigerian over $5m cyber fraud

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A 45-year-old British-Nigerian, Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo, has been sentenced to seven years in prison
The dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom was involved in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme
The court in the United States ordered Adeagbo to pay $942,655.03 in restitution and to serve seven years in prison

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international events

United States - A court in the United States has sentenced a British-Nigerian, Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo, to seven years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

A BEC scheme is used when scammers create fake accounts pretending to be companies that a business regularly does business with.

US court sends British-Nigerian to seven years in jail over $5m cyber fraud

The 45-year-old dual citizen conspired with others to steal over $3 million from different entities in Texas, including local government entities, construction companies, and a Houston-area college.

The US Department of Justice reported that Adeagbo, Donald Echeazu, 42, and Olabanji Egbinola, 44, defrauded a North Carolina university of more than $1.9 million.

The suspects committed the offences in North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Adeagbo, Echeazu, and Egbinola were extradited from the United Kingdom (UK) to face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in August 2022.

The convict pleaded guilty in two cases against him in North Carolina and Texas for participating in a BEC scheme.

According to court records, Adeagbo and his co-conspirators obtained information about construction project sin the country, including an ongoing multi-million-dollar project at a university in North Carolina.

The fraudsters registered a domain name similar to that of the construction company handling the university’s project.

They also created an email address similar to that of an employee of the construction company.

“Using the fake email address, the fraudsters deceived and directed the university to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of Adeagbo and his co-conspirators.”

The fraudsters pulled the same tricks in Texas, targeting local government entities and universities pretending to be construction companies.

The scammers received over $3 million from the scheme and $5 million overall.

The court ordered Adeagbo to pay $942,655.03 in restitution and to serve seven years in prison.