A U.S. district court in Minnesota has rejected the bail application of convicted Nigerian fraudster Ijeoma Mbonu Chanthavong, who assisted Yahoo Boys in transferring ill-gotten funds from her U.S. account to Nigerian banks, according to court filings obtained by Peoples Gazette.

Ms Mbonu, detained by Homeland Security for deportation in December 2025, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit international money laundering in April 2022 after the U.S. authorities caught wind of her criminal activities and charged her in a federal court.

The Nigerian woman, who entered the U.S. in 2017 on a B-2 visa and has since birthed a child there, was the liaison between two Yahoo Boys and their victims, often individuals and business entities targeted for romance scams and business email compromise schemes. She played a major role by having her bank account used to collect fraudulent funds from victims, which she then transferred to Internet fraudsters in Nigeria.

After pleading guilty to international money laundering conspiracy, Ms Mbonu cut a deal to snitch on the fraudsters in exchange for her continued stay in the U.S. in October 2022.

She explained to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that the deal had put her in harm’s way, claiming the Yahoo Boys were furious over her betrayal and planned to kill her if she ever set foot in Nigeria.

“In connection with her conviction, she provided substantial assistance to the government and, as a result, is in danger of retaliation from individuals engaged in fraud schemes who have threatened to kill her if she returns to Nigeria,” stated court filings.

As a result, Ms Mbonu’s application for employment authorisation to remain in the U.S. was approved in June 2024.

But that relief was short-lived when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents re-arrested Ms Mbonu on December 4, 2025, for deportation over her prior conviction for international money laundering.

Ms Mbonu became desperate and filed for asylum in detention while ICE was still caught in the red tape of processing her expulsion.

On December 22, 2025, ICE issued a Final Administrative Order of Removal for Ms Mbonu’s deportation to Nigeria. But Ms Mbonu took the matter to court, suing the U.S. attorney general, Pamela Bondi, DHS secretary Kristi Noem, ICE, and other key government officials. 

She argued her detention was illegal and that ICE could not immediately deport her because “Nigeria has not agreed to accept her and because her removal would be invalid due to her pending immigration applications”.

Ms Mbonu further applied for a habeas corpus, a court order requiring ICE to justify her detention, before the U.S. District Court for Minnesota on December 29, 2025, including a demand for her release. 

But federal officials deflated Ms Mbonu’s petitions with her money laundering conviction, asserting that the immigration consequences contained in her 2022 plea deal made her “deportable”.

“Respondents assert that because of Ijeoma C.’s prior conviction for money laundering, she was not entitled to a bond hearing and was subject to mandatory detention,” stated court filings obtained by The Gazette.

ICE informed the Minnesota district court that Ms Mbonu was aware of the implications of her money laundering conviction, which was deemed an aggravated felony.

“The defendant understands that pleading guilty may have consequences with respect to her immigration status, including removal or deportation,” said the plea agreement Ms Mbonu signed back in 2022.

Having reviewed Ms Mbonu’s petition and 2022 guilty plea agreement, Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan agreed that her prior money laundering conviction qualified as an aggravated felony and that she was indeed deportable.

The judge denied her application for bail, a decision that ultimately seals her continued detention in an ICE facility and subsequent expulsion from the U.S.

“It is hereby ordered that Ijeoma C.’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied; and this action is dismissed without prejudice,” the judge ruled on January 13.