A celebrated Nigerian billionaire Ehonre Oluwaseun, popularly called Classic Baggie, has been indicted for cyber fraud in the United States of America (USA), schemes orchestrated by an international criminal organisation known as the Miami Crew,
Penpushing reports that the self-styled entrepreneur, was indicted last year by America district court in Delaware, in a case involving Olugbenga Lawal, his America-based partner, who has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for money laundering involving the proceeds of internet fraud schemes.
The convict was equally ordered to pay $1.4 million ($1,460,875) in restitution to victims of the fraud schemes, while record showed that Classic Baggie, who was residing in Lagos and celebrated as a philanthropist in Nigeria at the time is said to be leader of the fraud.
Penpushing further reports that while Lawal’s sentencing got widespread media coverage, the indictment of Classic Baggie did not get any attention, but a court document confirmed his role in the scams.
The court documents revealed that Baggie was involved in Business Email Compromise (BEC) or romance fraud, while between 2019 to 2020, Lawal and other crew members were accused of stealing millions of dollars and laundering millions of dollars in proceeds.
Penpushing also reports that the court identified other crew members as Rita Assane and Dwight Baines, both American citizens based in Florida, and Michael Hermann, an Ivory Coast citizen based in Florida.
The America-based Miami crew members together with Lawal were spoofing multiple business emails, fraudulently redirecting funds to their bank accounts, and stealing from individuals through an online romance scam.
Penpushing reports that the proceeds from their fraudulent activities were sent to Lawal, who also acted as a money mule by illegally transferring the money to Baggie in Nigeria.
“The Miami Crew would send Lawal illicit proceeds from these fraud schemes at the instruction of Classic Baggie, who referred to Mr Lawal as his partner in the romance fraud thing’, the court document reads.
“Fraud victims sometimes directly sent money to Lawal, and the evidence reflected that Lawal had direct knowledge of these deposits. After receipt, Lawal would help repatriate the money back to Nigeria through currency transactions and by purchasing cars in the United States and shipping the cars to Nigeria’, document stated.
Penpushing further reports that, in Nigeria, Classic Baggie was regarded as a serial entrepreneur with investments in real estate, entertainment and car dealerships, and in multiple news platforms he is known for his philanthropic nature and his consistent willingness to give back to society.
“He is a serial entrepreneur and is often regarded as one of the youngest business entrepreneurs in Nigeria. His purported businesses are all classified under his “Baggie Groups conglomerate’, the reports about him showed
Penpushing also reports that Classic Baggie is also considered a socialite and friends with Ramon Abbas, Hushpuppi, who was sentenced to 11 years in America prison in 2022 for international money laundering schemes.
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