Nigerian National Sentenced to Eight Years for Multi-Million Dollar Scam Targeting Maryland Charities

A Nigerian national has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a sophisticated business email compromise scheme that defrauded two charitable organizations of millions of dollars. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced the sentencing of Olusegun Adejorin, 32, who will serve eight years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Adejorin was extradited from Ghana to face charges and was convicted by a federal jury in December 2025 on counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and unauthorized access to a protected computer.

The fraudulent scheme, which took place between June and August 2020, targeted a Maryland-based charitable organization that provided investment services, and a New York-based charitable organization. Adejorin orchestrated his plot by creating spoofed domain names, which allowed him to impersonate employees of one of the victim organizations. He then used these impersonations to request fraudulent withdrawals of funds from the investment-services organization. Further complicating the fraud, Adejorin gained unauthorized access to email accounts of the Maryland organization, using this access to send falsified confirmations of the fraudulent withdrawal requests. These actions ultimately led to over $7.5 million being transferred from the victim charities to bank accounts that were not legitimately controlled by the intended recipients.

The successful prosecution of Adejorin involved extensive international cooperation. The FBI Baltimore Field Office, along with the FBI Legal Attaché in Accra, Ghana, and various law enforcement and justice departments in Ghana, played crucial roles in the investigation and Adejorin’s extradition. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs collaborated with Ghanaian authorities to secure his transfer to the United States for trial. U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes commended the collaborative efforts of all involved agencies in bringing Adejorin to justice.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland

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