Abiola Kayode, a 37-year-old Nigerian who had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Cyber Criminal List, has been extradited from Ghana to Nebraska, United States, to face charges related to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska, Kayode was arrested in April 2023 by Ghanaian authorities after a formal U.S. extradition request. He was handed over to FBI special agents who transported him to Nebraska.
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Kayode made his first court appearance on December 11, 2024, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson, who ordered his detention pending trial.
Kayode is accused of being part of a business email compromise (BEC) scheme that defrauded businesses in Nebraska and other states of over $6 million between January 2015 and September 2016. The scheme involved impersonating business executives to deceive employees into making fraudulent wire transfers. The emails were made to appear legitimate, prompting businesses to transfer large sums of money to accounts controlled by Kayode and his associates.
Authorities claim Kayode was responsible for providing bank account details that facilitated the transfer of illicit funds. Many of these accounts were reportedly linked to victims of internet romance scams, who were manipulated into moving the stolen money further. Several of Kayode’s co-conspirators have already been convicted.
In February 2019, Adewale Aniyeloye was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.57 million in restitution. In March 2019, Pelumi Fawehinimi received a 72-month sentence with an order to pay $1.01 million.
In January 2020, Onome Ijomone, who was extradited from Poland, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay $508,934 in restitution. Most recently, Alex Ogunshakin, who provided bank accounts for the scheme, was sentenced to 45 months in prison in October 2024 following his extradition from Nigeria.
FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel commented, “Four years ago, we identified six Nigerian nationals suspected of defrauding individual victims and businesses in Nebraska and other states of millions of dollars. Today, Abiola Kayode is the second of those co-conspirators to be extradited to stand trial in Nebraska. Our message to the remaining four co-conspirators: we are coming for you.”
Kowel emphasized that dismantling cyber-criminal groups, particularly those involved in Business Email Compromise and other fraud schemes, remains a priority for the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, and their international law enforcement partners.
He also praised the collaboration with Ghanaian authorities, including the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, and the Ghana Immigration Service, in bringing Kayode to justice.
