ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A United Kingdom-based Nigerian, Olamide Shanu, faces up to 20 years in prison after being extradited to the United States over his alleged involvement in a $2 million fraud scheme.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on its website that the 34-year-old, originally from Lagos State, was arraigned before a US Magistrate Court on Wednesday following his extradition.
According to the DoJ, Shanu was arraigned on an eight-count charge bordering on “wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit interstate communications with intent to extort, and cyberstalking.”
According to reports “other charges include “conspiracy to commit extortion, money laundering conspiracy, extortion, interstate communications with intent to commit extortion, and cyberstalking.”
Prosecutors alleged that Shanu and his co-conspirators impersonated women on social media to lure male victims into sending explicit photos, which they later used for blackmail.
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The DoJ statement explained: “According to the indictment, Shanu and his conspirators posed as females on social media and persuaded their victims, typically males, to send sexual images of themselves.
The indictment alleges that once the victims sent the explicit images, the conspirators threatened to send the explicit images to the victims’ friends and families unless the victim paid money.”
It further noted that, “The indictment alleges that the conspirators engaged in this extortion of numerous victims across the United States, including a college student in Idaho.”
Beyond the sextortion scheme, Shanu allegedly worked with accomplices to launder proceeds through cryptocurrency wallets.
The DoJ stated that he fraudulently obtained at least $2 million through the schemes.
The statement added: “If convicted of the charges, Shanu faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He also faces restitution for the losses incurred by the victims of the scheme.
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“An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
This development comes weeks after it was reported that Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, a France-based Nigerian, faced up to 47 years’ imprisonment after being extradited to the US over alleged wire fraud, hacking, and identity theft that cost victims about $819,000.
According to the US DoJ, Amachukwu and his associates allegedly hacked into US-based tax preparation businesses in 2019 by using spear-phishing emails to infiltrate systems in New York, Texas, and other states.