Nigerian Akinade Raheem Extradited for $100M Tax Fraud

Akinade Raheem, a 43-year-old Nigerian man, was extradited from Benin to the United States to face federal charges for an alleged tax fraud scheme exceeding $100 million. Following his extradition, he was arraigned on Monday and is currently in the custody of the US Marshals Service.

Raheem is accused of conspiring with Abayomi Eletu and others from 2018 to 2023 to file over 300 fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities to claim refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia stated that Raheem and his co-conspirators obtained sensitive personal information from tax professionals and taxpayers.

They allegedly directed fraudulent refund payments to prepaid debit cards and laundered the proceeds through purchases of used cars and other items. The IRS Criminal Investigation's Special Agent in Charge, Christopher J. Altemus Jr., noted that the scheme victimized hundreds of taxpayers and impacted the US Treasury.