•1,000 victims in 47 US states, 19 countries affected
A US court in the Northern District of Ohio, has found two men and a woman guilty of involvement in an international email hacking scheme that defrauded more than 1,000 victims of approximately $215 million. The fraudulent scheme spanned 47 states and 19 countries.
The FBI Cleveland Division, the US Postal Inspection Service, and the US Border Patrol Sandusky Bay Intelligence Unit, led the investigations that resulted in the indictment, while Assistant US Attorneys, Gene Crawford and Robert Melching, led the prosecution for the Northern District of Ohio. A press release shared on the website of the US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio and also shared on X platform, indicated that on April 24, 2026, a jury in Toledo, Ohio, convicted Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi, 40, of Romeoville, Illinois; Aruan Drake, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Peter Reed, 35, of Oak Forest, Illinois, of Wire Fraud Conspiracy. US District Judge, James R. Knepp II, who presided over the trial, additionally, convicted Awoyemi and Drake of a money laundering conspiracy. But in total, 25 defendants were convicted for their different roles in the fraud and money-laundering scheme, commonly referred to as a “business email compromise”. The list of convicts include, Ayobami Osas Christopher, aka Lovely Man, 30, a naturalised U.S citizen residing in Lawrenceville, Georgia; Emmanuel Okereke, aka Omo Igbo, 42, a Nigerian national, residing in Atlanta; Olalekan Bashiru, aka Ola Bash, 36, a Nigerian national, residing in Chicago; Mark Dabney, 26, of Chicago; Casey Adesulu Jr., 28, of Houston; Jeremiah Agina, 29, a Nigerian national residing in Houston; Ayorinde Emmanuel Adebayo, 35, a naturalised U.S. citizen, residing in Olympia Fields, Illinois; Emily Agyemang, 35, of Joliet, Illinois. Others are Ademola Balogun, 43, a Nigerian national, residing in Chicago; Olabode Bankole, 37, a naturalised U.S. citizen residing in Loganville, Georgia; India Barnes, 37, of Atlanta; Emmanuel Essilfie, 28, a Ghanaian national residing in Naperville, Illinois; Chukwuemeka Evulukwu, 35, a naturalised U.S. citizen residing in Atlanta; Jeremiah Glinsey, 32, of Chicago; Lon Goodman, 69, of Whiting, Indiana; Shaquille I. Jackson, 33, of Chicago; Mikhail Keize, 31, of Loganville, Georgia; Katiera Lackey, 25, of Houston.
Also involved are Kingsley Owusu, 37, a naturalised U.S. citizen residing in Chicago: Anton Parker, 37, of Chicago; Carlton Pruitt, 27, of Bellwood, Illinois; and Ronnell Spencer, 35, of Chicago.
Sun
