3 Nigerians indicted for cyber fraud have been extradited to U.S.

Three Nigerians indicted for offences bordering on cyber fraud have been extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom.

The offence: The accused were allegedly involved in a multimillion-dollar cybercrime scheme leading to more than $5 million in losses.

The identity of the defendants were given as Oludayo John Adeagbo, 43; Donald Ikenna Echeazu, 40; and Olabanji Egbinola, 42, The Punch reports.

How it happened: According to reports, the scams allegedly perpetrated by the defendants and their co-conspirators was targeted at unsuspecting victims including universities in North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

In a statement released by the US Ministry of Justice on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, Echeazu and Adeagbo are facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy, laundering conspiracy, and aggravated identity.

The two defrauded the North Carolina University of more than $1.9 million via a business email compromise scheme.

Indictment: Although the indictment was pronounced by a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina on April 17, 2019, it was unsealed on Tuesday following Echeazu’s initial appearance in federal court in Charlotte.

Adeagbo, a UK resident, was also slammed with charges in the Southern District of Texas with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment on March 30, 2022, and was unsealed on August 3, 2022, before he extradition to the United States.

Meanwhile, Egbinola is facing charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He was alleged to have conspired with others to defraud a Virginia-based university, as contained in a criminal complaint issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, from Sept. 26, 2018, to Dec. 26, 2018.

The arrest: All three defendants were arrested by the UK authorities on April 23, 2020, and extradited on September 3, 2021 at the request of the United States authorities.

The UK Court on July 12, 2022 rejected all the appeals filed by the three defendants to block their extradition.