Nine Nigerians have been arrested in three states of the United States over allegations of fraud.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, announced the arrests in a statement.
Special Agent in charge of the Tampa, Florida, Field Office of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), James Spero, also appended his signature to the statement.
The suspects include Oluwaseun Adelekan, Olalekan Daramola, Solomon Aburekhanlen, Gbenga Oyeneyin, Abiola Olajumoke, Temitope Omotayo, Bryan Eadie, Albert Lucas, and Ademola Adebogun.
The statement said the suspects allegedly defrauded businesses and individuals of over $3.5 million through business email compromises, a Russian oil scam, and a romance scam.
“The common denominator in all three schemes was the defendants’ alleged fleecing of their victims through fictitious online identities.
“The schemes allegedly earned the defendants $3.5 million – and also arrests on federal felony charges,” Mr Berman said.
Mr Aburekhanlen was arrested on Wednesday in the Bronx, New York; while the others were arrested on Thursday in New York, Florida and Texas.
They face maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted each of one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud.
