US Sentences Nigerian Man to 95 Months for Laundering $3.1 Million in Fraud Proceeds
- A young man was sentenced to 95 months in prison after a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit money laundering in August 2025
- Baiyewu led a conspiracy that laundered over $3.1 million from business email compromise, romance, and unemployment insurance fraud schemes targeting US citizens
- The Nigerian national and at least six co-conspirators used illicit funds to purchase used cars in the United States before shipping them to Nigeria
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A Nigerian national living in Houston, Texas, has been sentenced to 95 months in federal prison for his role in a money laundering conspiracy that funnelled more than $3.1 million in fraud proceeds out of the United States through used car exports to Nigeria.
Oluwasegun Baiyewu, 40, was convicted by a federal jury in August 2025 on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Source: Getty Images
The sentence was announced by the United States Department of Justice.
How Baiyewu ran the operation
Court documents show that between May 2020 and October 2021, Baiyewu coordinated with at least six co-conspirators based in both the United States and Nigeria to receive and convert illicit funds.
The group communicated through encrypted messaging applications, including WhatsApp, to organise the purchase of salvaged vehicles with stolen money before arranging their export to Nigeria.
The fraud proceeds laundered through the scheme originated from multiple criminal activities, including business email compromise scams, romance fraud, and unemployment insurance fraud targeting American citizens.
In one documented instance, Baiyewu played a central role in laundering funds stolen from a Puerto Rican renewable energy company.
That company was deceived into wiring approximately $280,000 to bank accounts controlled by fraudsters. Baiyewu then directed those funds toward purchasing cars in the United States, which were subsequently exported to Nigeria for the benefit of his co-conspirators.
Investigators who brought the case
The investigation was led by the US Postal Inspection Service, the US Department of Labour Office of Inspector General, and the FBI San Juan Cyber Task Force, with additional support from the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force operating under the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Emily Powers and Richard Greene of the Justice Department Criminal Division's White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section, along with Assistant US Attorney Linet Olinghouse for the District of Puerto Rico.
The prosecution fell under the Justice Department's Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative, which coordinates efforts across federal agencies to dismantle criminal networks exploiting digital tools to defraud American citizens.
US extradites woman over alleged fraud case
In a related development, YEN.com.gh reported that a woman wanted for her alleged role in a COVID-19 fraud scheme has been extradited to the United States.
This comes after her arrest in Jamaica, where authorities say she had been concealing her identity to avoid prosecution.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
