A 40-year-old Nigerian has been sentenced to seven years and 11 months in a United States prison for helping launder more than $3.1 million obtained through fraud schemes targeting victims across the country.
Oluwasegun Baiyewu, a resident of Houston, Texas, was handed the 95-month sentence on Thursday after a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The US Department of Justice disclosed the sentence in a statement published by its Office of Public Affairs on Friday.
Court records showed that Baiyewu operated with at least six other conspirators in the US and Nigeria between May 2020 and October 2021. Their activities involved proceeds linked to business email compromise, romance fraud, and unemployment insurance scams.
The group allegedly used encrypted messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, to coordinate the movement of illicit funds and purchase salvaged vehicles for shipment to Nigeria.
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One transaction involved a business email compromise scheme against a renewable energy company in Puerto Rico. The company was deceived into transferring about $280,000 to bank accounts controlled by fraudsters and money launderers.
The Justice Department explained that Baiyewu subsequently helped channel part of the money into the purchase of vehicles in the United States. The cars were then arranged for export to Nigeria, benefiting members of the conspiracy.
“Using encrypted messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, Baiyewu and his co-conspirators coordinated the receipt and use of illicit money to purchase salvaged cars and then ship them to Nigeria,” the department said.
The conviction followed an investigation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and the FBI San Juan Cyber Task Force. The National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force also assisted investigators.
Baiyewu’s case forms part of the Justice Department’s Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative, which targets criminal networks using digital platforms to defraud Americans.
The initiative covers several forms of online financial crime, including investment and cryptocurrency scams, government impersonation, romance and inheritance fraud, financially motivated sextortion, and lottery and sweepstakes schemes.
The prosecution was handled by trial attorneys Emily Powers and Richard Greene of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section, alongside Assistant US Attorney Linet Olinghouse for the District of Puerto Rico.
The sentence underscores the US authorities’ continuing prosecution of cross-border networks accused of converting fraud proceeds into legitimate-looking assets and moving the proceeds beyond the reach of investigators.
