A Nigerian national, Animashaun Adebo, also known as “Kazeem” and “Kazeem Animashaun,” has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his involvement in a large-scale cyber fraud operation that caused losses exceeding $50 million to victims in New York City and across the United States.
The guilty plea was entered earlier today at a federal court in Brooklyn, where prosecutors detailed how Adebo and his accomplices executed a series of fraudulent business email compromise (BEC) and romance scams targeting individuals and small businesses within the Eastern District of New York and beyond.
Authorities said the group diverted victims’ funds and laundered the proceeds through shell company accounts both in the United States and internationally.
In some cases, unsuspecting intermediaries were used to conceal the origin of the illicit funds.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr., for the Eastern District of New York, alongside Matt McCool, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, New York Field Office.
“The defendant and his network of criminal associates perpetrated sophisticated frauds targeting victims here in Brooklyn and throughout the country,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “Schemes like these cause enormous hardship and financial losses to victims every year.
Our Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to prioritize prosecuting these online criminal actors and getting victims their hard-earned money back.”
“The staggering number of monetary losses this defendant and his network of thieves inflicted on innocent, hardworking, and good people caused significant financial hardship and distress. Let this sentence send a message to other cyber-criminals out there: You won’t get away with your crimes forever. We will track you down. And there will be significant consequences for your criminal misdeeds,” stated USSS Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool. “I am proud of the work the U.S. Secret Service did in this case, and I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and our other law enforcement partners for their diligence in bringing justice to the innocent victims hurt by this criminal network.”
A business email compromise (BEC) scheme is a type of cyber-enabled financial fraud in which perpetrators gain unauthorized access to legitimate business email accounts through hacking or social engineering techniques. They then use these accounts to initiate fraudulent fund transfers. Methods commonly employed include identity theft, email and website spoofing, and malware deployment.
Confidence fraud, another form of cybercrime, involves building trust with victims through online interactions to manipulate them into sending money. Romance scams fall under this category, where perpetrators assume false identities to create emotional relationships and exploit victims financially.
Between April 2021 and March 2022, Adebo and his co-conspirators carried out multiple BEC and romance schemes, receiving and laundering proceeds from these operations. In some instances, individuals involved in real estate transactions were tricked into transferring funds after receiving fraudulent emails that appeared to come from legitimate parties. These emails contained wiring instructions directing payments to accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
Similarly, employees of targeted companies were deceived into transferring funds after receiving spoofed emails that closely resembled those of legitimate vendors or business partners, differing only slightly in address details.
After victims completed the transactions, the funds were diverted into accounts managed by the defendant and his associates. Adebo further laundered proceeds by purchasing luxury watches and through an illicit money exchange operation operated by his co-defendant, Idowu Ademoroti, who has already been convicted and sentenced to prison for his role in the scheme. Investigators said Adebo ultimately received portions of the fraudulent proceeds through corporate bank accounts based in Nigeria.
Another defendant, Nelson Ojeriakhi, also a Nigerian citizen, was arrested in Paris and extradited to the United States in July 2025. He pleaded guilty in November 2025 and is awaiting sentencing, while a fourth suspect, Noguan Marvellous Eboigbe, remains at large.
The prosecution is being handled by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew D. Reich and Daniel J. Marcus leading the case, supported by paralegal specialists Liam McNett and Chelsea Guzman.
