A 33-year-old Nigerian man, Edikan Adiakpan, has been arrested in the United States for his alleged involvement in a large-scale business email compromise and money laundering scheme. The scheme reportedly defrauded organizations across eight states, including a California-based medical research group focused on developing treatments for US military veterans.

The arrest was announced by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, Nicholas J. Ganjei. Adiakpan is expected to make his initial court appearance before Magistrate Judge Peter Bray in Houston.

Adiakpan was named in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on June 11, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money transmission business.

According to the US Department of Justice, Adiakpan and his co-conspirators carried out the fraud in 2021 by sending spoofed emails that impersonated legitimate vendors. Victims were allegedly tricked into sending payments to bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters instead of the actual suppliers. The charges further allege that the conspirators laundered the funds by quickly transferring the money between multiple bank accounts they controlled and then converted the funds into cashier’s checks. Adiakpan allegedly cashed the checks and kept a percentage as a fee.

Another Nigerian, 26-year-old Ayobami Omoniyi, had earlier been charged in connection with the same scheme and is currently awaiting sentencing before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen.

If convicted, Adiakpan faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges and up to five years for the illegal money transmitting charge. Each conviction carries a possible $250,000 maximum fine. Give a better title from this blog