A 41-year-old Nigerian national, Alex Ogunshakin, has been sentenced to 45 months in federal prison for his involvement in a sophisticated wire fraud scheme that defrauded two U.S. businesses of over $6 million.
Senior U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard imposed the sentence on October 31, 2024. Following his prison term, Ogunshakin will be subject to three years of supervised release and subsequent deportation from the United States.
Ogunshakin, who was once listed on the FBI’s Cyber’s Most Wanted list, was extradited from Nigeria in 2023. Between January 2015 and September 2016, he participated in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme, where co-conspirators sent fraudulent emails to business employees, posing as executives to authorize wire transfers.
The scheme targeted over 70 U.S. businesses, resulting in losses exceeding $6 million and attempted losses surpassing $30 million.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs played a crucial role in securing Ogunshakin’s arrest and extradition, working closely with Nigerian authorities.
While Ogunshakin’s co-conspirator, Adewale Akinloye, has already been sentenced to 96 months in prison, other individuals involved in the scheme, including Richard Uzuh, Felix Okpoh, Nnamdi Benson, and Abiola Kayode, remain at large or are awaiting extradition.
