U.S. Seeks to Revoke Citizenship of Nigerian Fraudster

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to revoke the citizenship of Nigerian Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, who was convicted in 2018 on 19 counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

Kazeem's fraudulent activities, which occurred between 2012 and 2015, involved the submission of false federal tax returns, resulting in an attempted $91 million refund, of which he successfully received $11.6 million. Investigations revealed that Kazeem possessed stolen personal identification information from approximately 259,000 victims and purchased identities from a Vietnamese hacker.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $12 million in restitution. The lawsuit alleges that Kazeem's fraudulent actions disqualify him from lawful naturalization, including engaging in sham marriages to obtain permanent residency.

The move comes amid renewed immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.