A Nigerian man, Oluwasegun Baiyewu, has been convicted in the United States for his role in a wide-ranging international fraud and money laundering conspiracy that targeted vulnerable Americans, including the elderly.
Baiyewu, 37, of Richmond, Texas, was found guilty on Monday after a 22-day trial in San Juan, Puerto Rico. U.S. prosecutors said he conspired with four other Nigerians—Oluwaseun Adelekan, 40, and Temitope Omotayo, 40, both of Staten Island, New York; Ifeoluwa Dudubo, 37, of Austin, Texas; and Temitope Suleiman, 37—to launder funds derived from romance scams, pandemic relief fraud, unemployment insurance scams, and business email compromise (BEC) schemes.
Court documents revealed that between 2020 and 2021, the group moved illicit proceeds through hundreds of financial transactions. Investigators said part of the stolen money was used to buy used cars, which were then shipped to Nigeria in a bid to disguise the origins of the funds.
Victims of the scams, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, were spread across California, Illinois, Washington, Nevada, Puerto Rico, and Missouri. Many were older adults who lost their life savings to the fraudulent schemes.
“These fraud schemes disproportionately affected elderly and vulnerable Americans,” the Justice Department said in a statement on Tuesday.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division described the conviction as a stern warning to global fraud rings.
“Fraudsters who exploit America’s financial system cannot victimize Americans with impunity,” he said.
Similarly, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico said the network of scammers sought to “turn illicit gains into a facade of legitimacy” at the expense of unsuspecting victims.
He stressed that justice would continue to prevail against individuals and groups who prey on others for selfish gain.
Baiyewu, who was first charged in October 2021, now awaits sentencing.
His co-conspirators—Adelekan, Omotayo, Dudubo, and Suleiman—were previously indicted in July 2023 on related money laundering charges.
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