Tech
Cryptocurrency billionaire and tech entrepreneur arrested for alleged fraud and terrorist financing
The FBI has arrested and charged a tech entrepreneur, Kingsley Inegbedion, for his alleged involvement in a romance scam and business email compromise scheme, in which he and an accomplice, Efemena Igbe, who is still at large, posed as legitimate business owners to defraud American citizens between April 2020 and May 2023.
According to the online platform Peoples Gazette, the FBI said the two used fictitious corporate entities to receive fraudulent funds that were distributed to other accounts inside and outside the United States to hide the fraud.
The FBI, in a statement, said it was seeking the return of funds and forfeiture of assets obtained through the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Inegbedion and Igbe, who allegedly used the stolen funds to purchase cashier’s checks and withdraw cash from various bank accounts.
“Upon conviction for the crimes set forth in counts one through 16 of this indictment, the defendants, Efemena Igbe and Kingsley Inegbedion, shall forfeit to the United States of America, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(1), any and all property, real or personal, involved in such crime, and any property attributable to such property, including, but not limited to, a money judgment, which is a sum of money in United States currency representing the amount of the property involved in the crime,” the FBI statement read.
Inegbedion was arrested after the grand jury returned the indictment.
Meanwhile, Nigerian police on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of self-proclaimed cryptocurrency billionaire Linus Williams on charges of fraud, terrorist financing and failure to comply with the country’s regulatory frameworks.
The force’s public relations officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the arrest in a post on X.com on Tuesday, noted that due diligence would be done as investigations involving Williams, the chief executive of the Blord group of companies, continue.
The post reads: “The FCID (NPF-NCCC) is currently investigating complaints filed against BLORD GROUP, BLORD REAL ESTATE LTD, BLORD JETPAYE LIMITED, and BILLPOINT TECHNOLOGY.
“These offences include allegations of cryptocurrency fraud, aiding and abetting internet fraud, computer fraud, terrorist financing and failure to comply with regulatory frameworks.
“We will do our due diligence in our investigations. Our cyberspace in Nigeria must be safe and secure by all means. We are committed to achieving this goal.”
Recently, a number of Nigerians have been arrested, charged and imprisoned for criminal offences related to Internet scams, among others.
One such case was that of Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpupi, who was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison by the United States District Court after being found guilty of laundering the proceeds of a school finance scam, compromising business emails, and other computer fraud.
The ruling, handed down by Judge Otis Wright II, ended Hushpuppi’s trial, which began after his arrest in June 2020 at his hotel apartment in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The FBI’s Los Angeles field office’s deputy director, Don Alway, described Hushpuppi in the statement as “one of the most prolific money launderers in the world.”
Similarly, an associate of Abbas, Olalekan Ponle, alias Mr Woodberry, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to hand over $8 million in wire fraud proceeds, as well as luxury cars and watches to the foreign government.
Woodberry, in a plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, pleaded guilty to one of the indictments, the Peoples Gazette reports.
According to the plea agreement, the man will have to repay the sum of $8 million he fraudulently received from the seven companies he defrauded.
“The defendant understands that, by pleading guilty, he will assign to the United States all right, title and interest he has in any property that constitutes or is derived from proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the crime,” reads the document containing the plea agreement signed by Mr. Ponle.