Nigerian Extradited to U.S. Over $2m Fraud Faces 20-Year Jail Term

Also Read

 

 A United Kingdom-based Nigerian, Olamide Shanu, has been extradited to the United States to face trial over an alleged $2 million fraud scheme.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), in a statement published on Thursday, confirmed that the 34-year-old Lagos State indigene was arraigned before a U.S. Magistrate Court on Wednesday.

Shanu is facing an eight-count indictment that includes charges of wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit extortion, interstate communications with intent to extort, money laundering conspiracy, and cyberstalking.

According to prosecutors, Shanu and his co-conspirators posed as women on social media, luring male victims into sending sexually explicit images. The suspects allegedly threatened to expose the victims’ photos to friends and family unless money was paid.

“The indictment alleges that once the victims sent the explicit images, the conspirators threatened to send the explicit images to the victims’ friends and families unless the victim paid money,” the DoJ said.

Victims of the alleged sextortion included several Americans, among them a college student in Idaho. Prosecutors further claim Shanu and others laundered the proceeds of the scheme through cryptocurrency wallets.

The DoJ noted that Shanu allegedly obtained not less than $2 million from the fraud schemes. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison, alongside restitution to victims.

“An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” the statement emphasized.

This development comes weeks after another Nigerian, France-based Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, was extradited to the U.S. to face charges of wire fraud, hacking, and identity theft in a case involving losses of over $819,000.