FBI-Wanted Nigerian Abiola Kayode Extradited To US From Ghana Over $6m Cyber Scam
Abiola Kayode, a Nigerian previously on the FBI’s Most Wanted Cyber Criminal List, has been extradited from Ghana to Nebraska, United States, following his involvement in a $6 million Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme. The 37-year-old was indicted in August 2019 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska, Kayode was arrested by Ghanaian authorities in April 2023. After a formal extradition request from the U.S., he was handed over to FBI agents and flown to Nebraska.
Kayode appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson on December 11, 2024, where he was ordered to remain in detention until trial. The charges allege that Kayode played a significant role in a BEC operation that ran between January 2015 and September 2016, defrauding businesses across Nebraska and other states of over $6 million. The scheme involved impersonating business executives in emails that convinced employees to transfer funds to bank accounts controlled by Kayode and his accomplices.
The U.S. authorities further allege that Kayode provided bank accounts used to funnel illicit funds, many of which were connected to internet romance scams, where victims were tricked into sending money.
Several of Kayode’s co-conspirators have already faced justice. In February 2019, Adewale Aniyeloye was sentenced to 96 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.57 million in restitution. Pelumi Fawehinimi was sentenced in March 2019 to 72 months in prison, with an order to pay $1.01 million. Onome Ijomone was extradited from Poland and sentenced in January 2020 to 60 months in prison with restitution of $508,934. Alex Ogunshakin, who provided bank accounts for the scheme, was sentenced to 45 months in October 2024 after his extradition from Nigeria.
FBI Omaha Special Agent Eugene Kowel, speaking about the case, emphasized the FBI’s commitment to dismantling cybercriminal syndicates targeting U.S. citizens. “Today, Abiola Kayode is the second of those co-conspirators to be extradited to stand trial in Nebraska,” Kowel said. “We are coming for the remaining four co-conspirators.”
The FBI, alongside international law enforcement partners, including Ghana’s Attorney General’s Office and the Ghana Police Service, continues to pursue cybercriminals involved in BEC and other fraud schemes.
