U.S.-based Nigerian Pleads Guilty to $50M Fraud Scheme

Animashaun Adebo, also known as Kazeem Kazeem Animashaun, pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal court in Brooklyn to wire fraud conspiracy. His involvement in a series of fraudulent schemes, particularly business email compromise and romance scams, resulted in a loss of $50 million for individuals and small businesses, primarily within the Eastern District of New York.

The fraudulent activities occurred between April 2021 and March 2022, where victims, often involved in real estate transactions, received deceptive emails that impersonated legitimate parties, instructing them to wire funds to fraudulent accounts. Adebo misappropriated victim funds and laundered them through shell company accounts in the U.S. and abroad, sometimes using unsuspecting intermediaries to obscure the source of the funds.

He ultimately received part of the fraudulently obtained proceeds in a corporate bank account located in Nigeria. Co-defendant Idowu Ademoroiti has already been convicted, while Nelson Ojeriakhi, another co-defendant, was arrested in Paris and extradited to the U.S. in July 2025, where he is awaiting sentencing.