Alex Ogunshakin, a 41-year-old Nigerian citizen, has been sentenced in a federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for his involvement in a wire fraud scheme that defrauded two businesses of more than $6 million.
According to U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr, Senior U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Ogunshakin to 45 months in prison on October 31, 2024, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Following his prison term, Ogunshakin will serve three years of supervised release and may be deported from the United States. Federal sentences do not include parole.
Ogunshakin, who was previously on the FBI’s Cyber’s Most Wanted list, was extradited to the United States in 2023. His scheme to defraud U.S.-based businesses spanned from January 2015 through September 2016.
The scheme involved a business email compromise tactic, where Ogunshakin and his associates used compromised email accounts to send spoofed messages to employees responsible for authorizing wire transfers. These emails, made to look as if they came from executives like the CEO, instructed employees to complete wire transfers to accounts controlled by Ogunshakin and his associates.
The investigation found that the scheme targeted two Nebraska businesses in early 2015, leading to significant financial losses. In total, over 70 U.S. businesses were impacted, with losses exceeding $6 million and attempted losses surpassing $30 million. Ogunshakin and his co-conspirators operated primarily from outside the U.S., mainly in Nigeria....Read Full Article [Click Here>]
In October 2020, Nigerian authorities arrested Ogunshakin at the request of the U.S., and in July 2023, a Nigerian court approved his extradition. He was extradited to the United States in September 2023, with significant support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Abuja, Nigeria’s Office of the Attorney General and Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
One of Ogunshakin’s co-conspirators, Adewale Akinloye, received a 96-month sentence in February 2019. Other associates, Richard Uzuh, Felix Okpoh, and Nnamdi Benson, remain at large, while Abiola Kayode’s extradition process is ongoing.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lecia E. Wright handled the prosecution for the District of Nebraska.
