Nigerian jailed in US for laundering $3.1m scam proceeds

n n

A Nigerian national, Oluwasegun Baiyewu, has been sentenced to 95 months (7 years and 11 months) in prison in the United States for laundering more than $3.1 million in proceeds from various fraud schemes targeting US citizens.

n

The US Department of Justice said Baiyewu, 40, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced on Thursday for his role in a money laundering conspiracy involving business email compromise, romance and unemployment insurance fraud schemes.

n

The department disclosed this in a statement posted on the website of its Office of Public Affairs on Friday.

n

According to court documents, Baiyewu led a conspiracy involving at least six other co-conspirators in the US and Nigeria between May 2020 and October 2021.

n

“Between approximately May 2020 and October 2021, Baiyewu worked with at least six other co-conspirators in the United States and Nigeria.

n

“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 Justice Department said.

n

It further stated that “in one instance, Baiyewu conspired to launder funds obtained from a business email compromise scheme perpetrated against a Puerto Rican renewable energy company, which was tricked into sending approximately $280,000 by wire to bank accounts controlled by fraudsters and money launderers.”

n

The department said “Baiyewu then worked with his co-conspirators to launder the Puerto Rican company’s money by paying toward the purchase of cars located in the United States that he arranged to export and ship to Nigeria to benefit the co-conspirators.

n

A federal jury convicted Baiyewu in August 2025 on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

n

The Justice Department said its Criminal Division, through its Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative, works to disrupt cyber-enabled criminal networks targeting Americans.

n

The initiative focuses on prosecuting cyber-enabled financial crimes, including investment and cryptocurrency scams, government imposter schemes, romance and inheritance scams, financially motivated sextortion, and lottery and sweepstakes scams.

n

The US Postal Inspection Service, US Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and FBI San Juan Cyber Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the National Unemployment Insurance Fraud Task Force.

n

Trial attorneys Emily Powers and Richard Greene of the Criminal Division’s White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section and Assistant US Attorney Linet Olinghouse for the District of Puerto Rico prosecuted the case.

n n