A British Nigerian named Oludayo Adeagbo has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme.
In BCE scams, perpetrators impersonate trusted companies or individuals by registering fake domains and email addresses to trick businesses and institutions into transferring significant sums of money to fraudulent accounts.
Adeagbo, who is also known as John Edwards and John Dayo, teamed up with accomplices Donald Echeazu and Olabanji Egbinola to defraud a university in North Carolina of more than $1.9 million through a complex cyber-enabled financial fraud operation.
After being deported from the United Kingdom in August 2022, the trio faced charges including conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering, with their crimes occurring across North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
How The Fraud Is Perpetrated
The U.S. Department of Justice disclosed that court documents indicated that Adeagbo and his group focused on high-value construction projects nationwide, including a big development at a university in North Carolina. To implement the fraud, they registered a domain name similar to that of the construction firm overseeing the university project.
They created a credible email account that mimicked a company employee. Through this deceptive email, the team misled university officials, successfully prompting them to wire $1.9 million into a bank account controlled by an accomplice under Adeagbo’s direction.
The fraudulent activity extended beyond North Carolina, as Adeagbo and his co-conspirators used similar strategies across Texas, targeting local government agencies and universities by impersonating construction companies. Overall, they acquired over $3 million from the schemes in Texas, increasing their total fraud earnings to over $5 million.
On April 8, Adeagbo pleaded guilty to the charges in North Carolina and Texas. He was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison and mandated to pay $942,655.03 in restitution.
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