A 34-year-old Nigerian man Adetunji Abudu 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 seven years ago.
Penpushing reports that United States of America (USA) Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island said the suspect who fled in 2019 to Lagos was arrested at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, while attempting to enter the country from Istanbul, Turkey.
The statement from Attorney’s 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 America.
Penpushing further reports that the indictment, explained that 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.
Penpushing also reports that the statement pointed out that members of the alleged conspiracy equally 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.
Penpushing reports that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States of America (USA) Attorney John P. McAdams and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with assistance from the United States Postal Inspection Service and police departments in Tallmadge, Ohio, and Moscow, Idaho.
Meanwhile, the United States of America (USA) Attorney’s Office stressed that an indictment is an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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