Nigerian Man Jailed 8 Years In US Over $7.5M Charity Fraud

A 32-year-old Nigerian man, Olusegun Adejorin, has been sentenced to eight years in a United States federal prison for his involvement in a corporate email fraud scheme that resulted in more than $7.5 million being stolen from two charitable organisations.

Adejorin was sentenced to 96 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after he was convicted of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorised access to a protected computer to obtain information.

According to Ireporter Online, Adejorin was extradited from Ghana to the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in August 2024 to face trial over the allegations.

Following a six-day federal trial in December 2025, a jury found him guilty on all charges.

The sentencing was announced jointly by Kelly O. Hayes, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, and Jimmy Paul, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office.

Prosecutors said Adejorin carried out the fraudulent scheme between June and August 2020, targeting two nonprofit organisations, one based in Maryland and the other in New York.

The Maryland-based organisation provided investment services to other organisations, while the New York charity was allegedly the direct victim of the fraudulent transactions.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that Adejorin gained unauthorised access to employees’ email accounts and allegedly impersonated them to initiate and approve financial transactions.

He was also accused of creating fraudulent domain names designed to resemble those belonging to employees of the New York organisation. Using the fake domains, he reportedly sent requests for funds from the Maryland organisation while pretending to act on behalf of the charity.

Prosecutors further established that Adejorin obtained unauthorised access to email accounts belonging to employees of the Maryland organisation and used them to falsely confirm withdrawal requests submitted in the name of the New York nonprofit.

The scheme ultimately led to the transfer of more than $7.5 million from the Maryland organisation into bank accounts that were not connected to the intended recipient.

US authorities commended the FBI Baltimore Field Office for investigating the case and acknowledged the cooperation of several Ghanaian agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, Economic and Organised Crime Office, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Police Service–INTERPOL and National Intelligence Bureau.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also worked with Ghanaian authorities to facilitate Adejorin’s extradition to the United States.

Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua Rosenthal and Darren Gardner prosecuted the case.