$50M Scam: Four Charged in Business Email Compromise Scheme

Four individuals, Animashaun Adebo, Idowu Ademoroti, Nelson Ojeriakhi, and Noguan Marvellous Eboigbe, have been charged with orchestrating a series of fraudulent business email compromise schemes and related romance scams that resulted in over $50 million in losses for individuals and small businesses in the Eastern District of New York and across the United States.

The defendants, along with their network of co-conspirators, allegedly misappropriated victim funds and laundered them through shell company accounts in the US and abroad, often using unsuspecting middlemen, including escrow attorneys and other victims, to further obscure the audit trail and disassociate the funds from the frauds.

Adebo, 34, was arrested yesterday in Chicago, Illinois. Ademoroti, 29, was arrested yesterday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, and will be arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo in federal court in Brooklyn. Ojeriakhi, 31, was arrested previously in Paris, France, and remains in custody pending the resolution of extradition proceedings. Eboigbe, 28, remains at large.

United States Attorney Breon Peace and Patrick J. Freaney, Special Agent-in-Charge, United States Secret Service, New York Field Office (USSS), announced the arrests and charges.

“As alleged, from breaking hearts to breaking into email accounts, no scheme was too depraved for the defendants and their network of criminal associates to steal over $50 million from innocent victims in Brooklyn and throughout the country,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Business email compromise schemes like these cause devastating financial losses and other harm to victims. The indictments unsealed today charge perpetrators at every step of the schemes – from executing the frauds to laundering and receiving the proceeds. Prosecuting online criminal actors and recovering the victims’ stolen funds is a priority of this Office.”

“Today’s indictment is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks they can target innocent victims through sophisticated cyber fraud and get away with it,” said USSS Special-Agent-in-Charge Freaney. “Through deception and lies the alleged ringleaders schemed unwitting victims of more than 50 million dollars, leaving a wake of anguish in their path. I am incredibly proud of the investigators and prosecutors who were relentless in bringing accountability to these crimes.”

A Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme is a form of cyber-enabled financial fraud. In a typical BEC scheme, a malicious actor compromises legitimate business email accounts through computer intrusion techniques or social engineering and uses those accounts to cause the unauthorized transfer of funds. Techniques for perpetrating these schemes include identity theft, spoofing of emails and websites, and the use of malware.

Between April 2021 and March 2022, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly orchestrated a series of fraudulent BEC schemes and related romance schemes and laundered and received proceeds from the fraudulent schemes. As one part of the BEC schemes, victim-individuals involved in real estate transactions received fraudulent emails purporting to be from legitimate parties to those transactions.