45-year-old Oludayo Adeagbo, a Nigerian, has been convicted for engaging in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme and consequently sentenced to seven years in prison in the United States.
Disclosing this, the US Department of Justice in a release from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, said Adeagbo was involved in multiple cyber-enabled BEC schemes in an attempt to steal more than $3m from victim entities in Texas.
According to Department of Justice (DOJ), court documents revealed that the defendant also targeted local government entities, construction companies, and a Houston-area college.
The DOJ added that Adeagbo, who also held a British passport, conspired with his accomplices to defraud a North Carolina university of more than $1.9m.
It said Adeagbo arrived in the US in August 2022 after he was extradited from the United Kingdom to face criminal charges filed in Charlotte and Houston.
Adeagbo pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his criminal conduct in both cases on April 8.
He pleaded guilty following the transfer of his case from the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas to the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
The Justice Department said, “Oludayo Adeagbo and his co-conspirators perpetrated transnational cyber-enabled fraud schemes that targeted schools, government entities, and companies across the United States, and caused millions of dollars in losses.”
Meanwhile, his Nigerian conspirator, Donald Echeazu, 42, was extradited from the UK to the US, over the same fraud in which a North Carolina university (the University) lost more than $1.9 million via a BEC scheme.
On May 16, 2023, Echeazu was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release, and was also ordered to pay $655,408.87 in restitution for his role in the conspiracy.
