A 35-year-old Nigerian national has pleaded guilty in the United States to a money-laundering conspiracy connected to international romance and sextortion fraud schemes that allegedly targeted about 150 Americans and generated more than $2.5 million in criminal proceeds.
Olamide Shanu entered the guilty plea after being extradited from Nigeria to the United States, where prosecutors accused him of participating in schemes that used fake identities, sexual images and fabricated emergencies to obtain money from victims.
The case combines two forms of online fraud: sextortion, in which victims are threatened with the exposure of intimate images, and romance fraud, where criminals establish apparently genuine relationships before requesting money.
How the sextortion scheme worked
According to US court documents, Shanu and other members of the alleged network targeted male victims through sextortion schemes.
The victims were persuaded to send sexual images and were subsequently threatened with having the material distributed to their friends and relatives unless they paid money.
The group also allegedly operated romance scams using false identities on social media. In those cases, members of the network developed relationships with victims before claiming to have urgent financial problems requiring assistance.
Prosecutors said the romance schemes frequently targeted older men and women.
The money obtained from the victims was allegedly moved through peer-to-peer payment platforms and cryptocurrency wallets before being transferred to associates in Nigeria.
US prosecutors say victims lost millions
US authorities said Shanu personally made more than $2.5 million from the schemes, while the fraud resulted in millions of dollars in losses to victims.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division described the operation as an international scheme that combined sextortion, romance fraud and money laundering.
The US Attorney for the District of Idaho, Bart M. Davis, said the prosecution demonstrated the ability of US authorities to pursue cybercrime suspects operating across international borders.
The US Secret Service is also involved in the investigation alongside the Boise Police Department.
Nigerian suspect faces up to 20 years
Shanu was extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face the charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15.
He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Assistant Director Brent Daniels of the US Secret Service’s Office of Field Operations said the guilty plea represented a step towards justice for victims and highlighted the agency’s cooperation with other law-enforcement authorities in investigating cyber-enabled fraud.
The prosecution also illustrates the international nature of online financial crimes, in which victims, digital payment platforms, cryptocurrency wallets and alleged participants can be located across several countries.
Shanu’s sentencing will determine the penalty imposed by the US court following his guilty plea.
