Nigerian man who fled US in 2019 arrested at US airport

Photo by KYLE MAZZA / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP

A 34-year-old Nigerian man accused of involvement in a fraud and money-laundering scheme targeting elderly Americans has been arrested at an airport in the United States after fleeing the country for Nigeria in 2019.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island said Adetunji Abudu, from Lagos, was arrested at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, while attempting to enter the country from Istanbul, Turkey.

In a statement published on Monday, the office said Abudu was one of six defendants charged in a superseding indictment alleging that millions of dollars obtained through fraud schemes operated from Nigeria were laundered through bank accounts and businesses in the US.

According to the indictment, the schemes allegedly targeted elderly Americans through online romance scams, fraudulent sweepstakes, fake rental listings and sham online shipping transactions.

The statement said money obtained from victims was allegedly channelled through accounts and businesses in Rhode Island, Idaho and other locations, with significant proceeds ultimately sent to Nigeria.

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It added that members of the alleged conspiracy also bought vehicles with proceeds from the schemes and shipped them overseas.

“Abudu fled the United States to Nigeria in 2019 after the FBI executed a court-authorised search of his residence in North Providence. Five of Abudu’s co-defendants, Dotun Olawale Alonge, Oluwaseyi Akintol, Samson Ikotun, Olabode Shaba, and Oladipup Shodipu subsequently plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and received sentences ranging from time served to 42 months’ imprisonment,” the statement read.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney John P. McAdams and was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the US Postal Inspection Service and police departments in Tallmadge, Ohio, and Moscow, Idaho.

The US Attorney’s Office stressed that an indictment is an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.