The United States has ordered that a Nigerian man, Oluwaseun Adekoya, be deported after he completes a 20-year prison sentence for his role in a $2 million fraud scheme.
According to a statement on the U.S. Department of Justice website, Adekoya was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty of bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and nine counts of identity theft. The trial lasted three weeks.
The statement said Adekoya, who had a U.S. permanent resident card (Green Card), ran the fraud operation from his luxury apartment in New Jersey.
During the trial, investigators showed that he used publicly available information from people’s home equity credit lines at different credit unions across the U.S. He regularly changed locations to avoid being tracked by authorities.
The statement explained that Adekoya used encrypted apps like Telegram to collect people’s Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, mothers’ maiden names, and other personal details. After gathering this information, he sent it to a network of managers he recruited nationwide. He also provided fake driver’s licences for lower-level workers, who pretended to be the real account owners and withdrew money from their accounts.
To avoid being caught, Adekoya used burner phones, encrypted messages, and moved his share of the stolen money through bank accounts opened in other people’s names.
Some of the stolen money was reinvested in the fraud scheme. Adekoya bought airline and bus tickets, fake IDs, and rental cars to help his team move around and carry out more crimes at credit unions.
Investigations started in May 2022, when a federal credit union noticed unusual withdrawals done through impersonation. They alerted the FBI, who eventually traced the crimes back to Adekoya. He was arrested in December 2023. Thirteen people who worked with him were also charged, and all of them pleaded guilty.
The statement said that when the FBI came to search his apartment on December 12, 2023, Adekoya quickly wiped his main phone to destroy evidence. However, the FBI still found several burner phones, luxury items like Rolex watches, a $51,000 Tiffany engagement ring, designer bags and shoes, and about $26,000 in one of the bank accounts he used for money laundering. All the items were seized by the government.
It was also revealed that Adekoya had been running fraud schemes since he was 22 years old and became a permanent U.S. resident only in 2024.
During sentencing, Judge Mae A. D’Agostino described Adekoya as a “serial thief” who had been committing more advanced identity theft and fraud crimes since 2008.
Apart from his 20-year sentence, Adekoya must also complete five years of supervised release, pay over $2.2 million in restitution, and pay a $1,100 special fee. After serving his prison term, he will be deported from the United States.
The statement also listed some of the people who worked with him and were jailed, including David Daniyan, Kani Bassie, Davon Hunter, Christian Quivers, Jermon Brooks, Akeem Balogun, Victor Barriera, Danielle Cappetti, Jerjuan Joyner, Gaysha Kennedy, Crystal Kurschner, and Sherry Ozmore.
