A federal jury in Puerto Rico has convicted a Nigerian, Oluwasegun Baiyewu, for conspiracy to launder funds in connection with multiple wide-ranging wire, mail, and access device fraud schemes.
Mr Baiyewu was convicted on Monday of a money laundering conspiracy following a 22-day trial in San Juan.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Mr Baiyewu, 37, of Richmond, Texas, Oluwaseun Adelekan, 40, and Temitope Omotayo, 40, both of Staten Island, New York; Ifeoluwa Dudubo, 37, of Austin, Texas; and Temitope Suleiman, 37, conspired to launder funds from different international organized fraud schemes, including romance, pandemic relief, unemployment insurance fraud, and business email compromise scams.
A superseding indictment against the five defendants alleged that in 2020 and 2021, the defendants worked together to profit from efforts to “clean” money from scams involving victims, many of whom were older adults, in California, Illinois, Washington, and Nevada, and business email compromise schemes affecting victim companies in Puerto Rico and Missouri.
After receiving the proceeds, according to the indictment, the defendants or their co-conspirators conducted hundreds of transactions with the funds, among other things, to purchase used cars that were shipped overseas to Nigeria.
In July 2023, Peoples Gazette reported that a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned a superseding indictment charging four of the men, Messrs Adelekan, Omotayo, Dudubo, and Suleiman, with one count of conspiracy to launder funds from wire, mail, and access device fraud schemes.
Mr Baiyewu was previously charged on October 21, 2021.
The superseding indictment alleges that in 2020 and 2021, the defendants worked together to profit from efforts to “clean” money from scams involving victims, many of whom were older adults, in California, Illinois, Washington, and Nevada, and business email compromise schemes affecting victim companies in Puerto Rico and Missouri.
These fraud schemes disproportionately impacted elderly or otherwise vulnerable Americans, according to the U.S Department of Justice in a statement on Tuesday.
Following Mr Baiyewu’s conviction, senior U.S. officials vowed to intensify the crackdown on international fraudsters involved in laundering money through complex scams targeting Americans, including seniors and vulnerable people.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said the verdict was a warning to transnational crime groups. He stressed that fraudsters who exploit America’s financial system “cannot victimize Americans with impunity.”
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico described the scheme as one that sought to “turn illicit gains into a facade of legitimacy,” particularly at the expense of vulnerable citizens. He affirmed that justice would prevail against those who exploit others for personal gain.
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