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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Three Nigerians have been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States over multimillion-dollar cybercrime leading to more than $5 million in losses.
The defendants, Oludayo John Adeagbo, 43; Donald Ikenna Echeazu, 40; and Olabanji Egbinola, 42, allegedly perpetrated the crime with their co-conspirators.
The scams targeted unsuspecting victims including universities in North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
According to a statement issues on Wednesday by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Adaegbo and Echeazu were charged with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.
The duo defrauded North Carolina University of more than $1.9 million via a business email compromise scheme.
The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina on April 17, 2019, and was unsealed on Tuesday, August 9, following Echeazu’s initial appearance at a federal court in Charlotte.
Adeagbo, who resided in the UK, was also charged in the Southern District of Texas with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment on March 30, 2022, which was unsealed on August 3, 2022, before he was extradited to the United States.
Egbinola was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to a criminal complaint issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, from Sept. 26, 2018, to Dec. 26, 2018, Egbinola was alleged to have conspired with others to defraud a Virginia-based university.
All three defendants were arrested on April 23, 2020, by UK authorities at the request of the United States and ordered extradited on September 3, 2021.
All three defendants filed appeals, all of which were rejected by the UK High Court on July 12, 2022.
