Abiola Ayorinde Kayode, a 37-year-old Nigerian national, has been extradited to the United States from Ghana to face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Kayode, who had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Cyber Criminal List, is accused of participating in a $6 million Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme that defrauded businesses and individuals between 2015 and 2016.
The indictment, originally filed in the District of Nebraska in 2019, alleges that Kayode played a key role in facilitating the scheme by providing bank accounts used to receive fraudulently obtained funds.
The BEC operation involved impersonating company executives through spoofed emails to deceive employees into transferring money. Additionally, romance scam victims were reportedly used as intermediaries to launder the stolen funds.
Kayode was apprehended in Ghana in April 2023 and subsequently handed over to FBI special agents. Following his extradition to the U.S., he made an initial court appearance on December 11, 2024, where Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson ordered his detention pending trial.
FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel emphasized the significance of the extradition in a statement:
“Four years ago, we identified six Nigerian nationals suspected of defrauding victims and businesses in Nebraska and beyond of millions of dollars. Today, Abiola Kayode is the second of those co-conspirators to be extradited to Nebraska to face justice. Our message to the remaining four co-conspirators: we are coming for you. Dismantling cyber-criminal groups that victimize U.S. citizens remains a top priority for the FBI, the Department of Justice, and our international law enforcement partners.”
The FBI credited its collaboration with Ghanaian authorities, including the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, and the Ghana Immigration Service, for Kayode’s successful extradition.
Several of Kayode’s alleged co-conspirators have already been convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 45 to 96 months, while others remain at large.
