Many Nigerians are recognised for their entrepreneurial spirit, resilience and significant achievements in various human endeavours. This reputation is not accidental; it came on the back of countless success stories, both home and abroad, where several Nigerians have excelled in diverse fields, especially arts, culture, technology and innovation, and contributed significantly to the growth and development of their host countries.

Yet, there is a disturbing trend of some Nigerians convicted and jailed abroad for various forms of financial frauds. From the United States to the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, instances of Nigerians jailed for crimes such as money laundering, identity theft and online scams abound.

These cases have questioned the country’s image and its place in the global community, prompting the Senate to consider a bill to amend the Passport (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act to impose penalties on Nigerians convicted of crimes abroad, including the withdrawal of their passports for a minimum of 10 years.

Peoples Gazette chronicles cases of Nigerians convicted abroad for fraud-related causes.

Hushpuppi bagged 11 years in prison for fraud, money laundering 

The United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II sentenced Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, a 40-year-old Nigerians, also known by his Instagram handle, “Ray Hushpuppi,” to 11 years in prison for having conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars through a series of online scams.

Mr Wright also ordered Mr Abbas to pay $1,732,841 in restitution to two fraud victims. Mr Abbas’s conviction came after he pleaded guilty in April 2021 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. He was arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in June 2020, and remained in federal custody since his expulsion from the UAE.

Gov. Dapo Abiodun’s ally Bidemi Rufai jailed for five years over wire fraud, identity theft 

In September 2022, Abidemi Rufai, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun’s political aide, was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing pandemic relief benefits in the U.S. He was jailed for $2.4 million in wire fraud and aggravated identity theft from several authorities in the U.S., including about $500,000 in coronavirus relief grants.

Mr Rufai bagged 36 months for wire fraud and 24 months for aggravated identity theft, and the sentences ran consecutively at the U.S. correctional facilities in Fort Dix, New Jersey or the Northeastern Regional.

Invictus jailed for 10 years over $11 million wire fraud

Obinwanne ‘Invictus’ Okeke was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a computer-based intrusion fraud scheme that caused about $11 million in losses to his victims.

Court documents showed Mr. Okeke, 33, operated a group of companies known as the Invictus Group based in Nigeria and elsewhere. From approximately 2015 to 2019, Mr Okeke and others engaged in a conspiracy to conduct various computer-based frauds. The conspirators obtained and compiled hundreds of victims’ credentials, including victims in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mr Woodberry sentenced to eight years in prison

In July 2023, Judge Robert Gettleman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, sentenced Jacob Olalekan Ponle, or Mr Woodberry, to eight years and three months in prison for his coordination of a multimillion-dollar fraud. Mr Ponle was sentenced after being convicted on one count of fraud. Seven other counts were dismissed following a plea bargain in April of that year.

Mustapha Raji jailed for three years for money laundering

Mustapha Raji, a Nigerian social media millionaire, was, in September 2023, sentenced to three years in prison for his participation in a $1.7 million business email compromise and money laundering scheme that targeted a Manhattan hedge fund.

In addition to his prison terms, Mr Raji was sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $711,557.54 and forfeit the same amount.

Uchechukwu Eze jailed for $182,000 wire fraud

In November 2025, a U.S.-based Nigerian, Uchechukwu Gideon Eze, bagged about two years in prison for wire fraud, swindling a small business of not less than $182,000.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Tom Wheeler, sentenced Mr Eze over his involvement in “a sophisticated business email compromise scheme that defrauded a small business in Clark County, Indiana of more than $182,000.

The attorney also ordered Mr Eze to pay $182,201.80 in restitution.

Nigerian monarch, Joseph Oloyede, jailed for five years  

In August 2025, Judge Christopher A. Boyko of the Northern District of Ohio sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Osun State, Joseph Oloyede, to five years in prison over his role in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud and ordered him to repay more than $4.4 million to victims.

Mr Oloyede bagged 56 months on each of counts one and 13 of the indictment, and 36 months on counts one and two of the supplemental information. All terms were to run concurrently. The monarch, in addition to the custodial term, would also serve three years of supervised release, pay a mandatory $400 special assessment, and forfeit assets linked to the fraud.

Peter Neboh and Kennedy Ikponmwosa jailed 215 months in U.S. for transnational inheritance scam

In November 2023, Nigerian nationals, Peter Neboh and Kennedy Ikponmwosa, who were extradited to the United States of America from Spain bagged 128 and 87 months in prison respectively, for their roles in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme.

Both were sentenced for sending personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died years before in Portugal.

Court documents showed they also convinced former victims to receive money from new victims and then instructed those former victims to forward the fraud proceeds to others.

Adetomiwa Akindele jailed over $1.6 million romance, wire fraud in U.S

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado sentenced Adetomiwa Akindele to about six years in prison over $1.6 million romance/wire fraud. He would be deported after serving his jail term.

Court documents showed Mr Akindele in March 2018, lied to his victim, a widowed Colorado woman, that he had “encountered a financial crisis related to his purported work abroad for which he claimed to need money, funds, and assistance from the victim.” He was ordered to pay $1,692,945 in restitution.

Abiola Quadri jailed for 11 years in U.S. for defrauding California, Nevada

U.S. court in July 2025 sentenced Abiola Femi Quadri to 11 years in prison over a million-dollar fraud and funnelling the proceeds back to Nigeria to build a hotel, nightclub, and shopping mall.

Mr Quadri, 120-room resort hotel owner, was sentenced for defrauding California and Nevada of $1.3 million in COVID-19 pandemic unemployment and disability insurance benefits.

Judge George H. Wu said Mr Quadri, 43, perpetrated his fraudulent scheme by using stolen identities to submit over 100 applications for COVID-19 pandemic unemployment and disability insurance benefits from the U.S. government between 2021 and 2024.

The judge also ordered Mr Quadri, who acquired U.S. permanent residency through a fake wedding arrangement with a woman who was not his wife, to “pay $1,356,229 in restitution and a $35,000 fine.”

Conman Badetito Obafemi jailed 24 months for $300,000 romance scam

U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips, in April 2025, sentenced Badetito Obafemi to two years’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release following incarceration. Mr Obafemi was jailed for his involvement in a years-long romance scam that netted him more than $300,000 in illicit money.

The judge also ordered him to pay restitution of $311,520 to his victims. Mr Obafemi’s sentencing came almost a year after the 42-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering following his involvement in fake online relationships targeting vulnerable individuals across many cities in the United States in April 2024. 

Chukwunonso Obiora jailed for 11 years in for money, passport fraud

In January 2025, the U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Chukwunonso Obiora to 11 years in prison for his role in separate schemes to launder criminal proceeds from fraud and obtaining a United States of America passport through false statements.

The judge also ordered Mr Obiora to pay $3,326,014.14 in restitution and forfeiture.

The sentencing came after the convict pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy. He was arrested on a criminal complaint in October 2023 in Atlanta, Ga. and was ordered held pending trial. He was indicted in January 2024.

Ridwan Adepoju jailed 43 months for defrauding Americans, Chicago businesses

Ridwan Adepoju was in June 2025 sentenced to 43 months in prison by a U.S. federal judge for defrauding Americans and businesses in Chicago in a sophisticated scheme that was orchestrated directly from Nigeria.

Mr Adepoju’s sentencing followed his arrest in the United Kingdom last year based on a request from the American officials and immediately extradited to the United States, where he eventually pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

Investigation showed that the 33-year-old and his co-conspirators conducted several fraudulent schemes, including phishing scams, romance scams, and the submission of fraudulent tax returns, directly from Nigeria that most targeted individuals and businesses in Chicago areas in the United States. 

Fugitive Uchenna Nlemchi, jailed 51 months in U.S. for wire fraud, money laundering

Mr Nlemchi was in June 2024 jailed for 51 months and ordered to pay $524,000 in restitution and a money judgment in the amount of $868,295 for his role in a hybrid romance scam and business email compromise scheme.

Court documents showed that the scheme began in July 2015 when a co-conspirator initiated a romance scam with a 56-year-old widow in New Mexico using the alias “Sean Bartlett.” 

The co-conspirator convinced the victim that he was an engineer working on lucrative oil contracts and promised to marry the victim but instructed her to send him money for supposed business expenses. After completing his term of imprisonment, Mr Nlemchi would be required to serve three years of supervised release and deported.

Nigerian fraudsters Sangode, Adeyinka jailed 40 months for fraud

Quazeem Owolabi Adeyinka and Ayodeji Jonathan Sangode were in October 2023 sentenced to 26 months and 14 months in prison respectively for their roles in a fraud conspiracy during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Mr Sangode pleaded guilty in October 2022 to access device fraud, Mr Adeyinka pleaded guilty in November 2022 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

Court documents showed that between June 2020 and July 2021, Messrs Adeyinka and Sangode and others participated in a conspiracy to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims to the State of California. 

26-year-old Nigerian, Akinsanya, jailed over romance scam

U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester, in March 2024, sentenced a Nigerian citizen, Abdul Waris Akinsanya, to serve 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to defraud others. Court documents showed that Mr Akinsanya, in May 2020, opened an account at City National Bank using an alias and a forged passport. 

The information said that Mr Akinsanya’s co-conspirators used a fake persona online to trick a victim from Alabama into sending $2,650 in money orders through the mail. 

The judge also ordered three years of supervised release and $2,650 in restitution. 

Malaysia-based Nigerian fraudster, Osuji, jailed in U.S. for $6.3 million online scheme

Thirty-nine-year-old Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji was jailed in July 2024 for committing wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Mr Osuji was handed a mandatory minimum of two years on the identity theft count and a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison on the wire fraud and conspiracy counts.

Court documents said the convict led a network of scammers in Malaysia and elsewhere in a sophisticated business email compromise scheme to defraud victims of millions of dollars. Mr Osuji and his co-conspirators utilised unwitting and witting “money mules” to receive fraud proceeds in their bank accounts and then transferred the funds to accounts under the control of Mr Osuji and his co-conspirators or to convert the stolen proceeds to cash for further transfer. 

Mercy Ojedeji jailed in U.S. for forgery

Nigerian national, Mercy Ojedeji, on December, 2, 2025, was jailed for more than three years in prison after being found guilty of fraudulently securing university admission and student visa to work as mule for Nigeria-based scammers. 

The U.S. Department of Justice said Mr Ojedeji forged several documents, including academic transcripts, recommendations, a resume and a report about his English language proficiency, which he submitted to gain a PhD admission into the chemistry department of University of Missouri in 2023. 

Prosecutors said Mr Ojedeji linked up with an American woman, Shirley Waller, currently serving a term in prison for various fraud charges, with the two acting as criminal contacts through which fraudsters in Nigeria use to re-route their illegal proceeds to the West African nation. 

Abiola Akinremi jailed in UK for stealing £19,650 from vulnerable patients

In January 2023, Abiola Akinremi was jailed for seven months for stealing £19,650 from the residents of Bostall House in Abbey Wood, southeast London.

Mrs Akinremi, who pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by abuse of position, started stealing from patients when she needed money for childcare, and continued to fund her lifestyle with the stolen funds.

‘Tech queen’ Sapphire Egemasi naabbed over multimillion-dollar Internet fraud

Nigerian ‘tech queen’ Sapphire Egemasi faced more than 20 years’ imprisonment in prison after the FBI arrested her for defrauding several U.S. government agencies of millions of dollars.

Ms Egemasi, a programmer who operates a Devpost account, was arrested on April 10, 2025, in Bronx, New York, alongside other co-conspirators, including Samuel Kwadwo Osei, who appeared to have led the syndicate.

Court documents showed the Nigerians and her co-defendants conspired to defraud the city of Kentucky millions of dollars, with Ms Egemasi’s role being to register and design spoof websites of U.S. government institutions to steal login credentials.

James Ibori jailed in UK for 13 years

Former Delta State governor James Ibori was jailed for 13 years for fraud totalling nearly £50m ($77m) in April 2012. This came after Mr Ibori admitted 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. Arrested in Dubai in 2010, the former governor was extradited to the UK, where he was prosecuted based on evidence from the Metropolitan Police.

The British authorities also recovered £4.2 million confiscated from Mr Ibori’s ex-wife and sister, who were also sent to prison for assisting him in money laundering in 2021.

Abraham Adeniyi jailed for multimillion-dollar money laundering

In July 2023, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos sentenced Abraham Adeniyi to three years in prison for operating a money laundering scheme that laundered nearly $8 million of wire fraud proceeds. This was after Mr Adeniyi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Court documents revealed that the convict used a web of bank accounts to funnel millions of dollars stolen from fraud victims into his own pockets and the pockets of the fraudsters.

Experts react to the growing trend

Experts described the trend as disturbing, saying it raises serious concerns about erosion of values in Nigeria.

A critic and good governance advocate, Michael Oyeleke, said Nigerians jailed abroad for fraud undermine the spirit of entrepreneurship and resilience for which Nigerians were known.

Mr Oyeleke said, “It damages the image of the country and other good Nigerians in the U.S especially. A maxim says, ’one bad apple spoils the rest.’ It also exposes the declining values in Nigeria where fraud related offices such as “Yahoo Boys“ are sometimes exonerated by the people who should guide the young ones.”

A senior lecturer at the Kwara State University of Education, Ameen Akeem, also described the situation as “worrisome,” stating it did not portray the country well. 

Mr Akeem stated, “Nigerians are known to be smart, intelligent and hardworking. But the choice of a few among us is eroding these attributes.’’

Also, a senior lecturer at the Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia, Adebayo Taofeeq, stated that convictions of Nigerians for fraud abroad demonstrate challenges of reputation management and governance.

He added that the trend reinforced damaging stereotypes of dishonesty and corruption about the country.

“High-profile fraud convictions of Nigerians abroad do not define Nigeria as a whole, but they highlight challenges of reputation management, governance, and the need for stronger anti-fraud education and enforcement. They often reinforce negative stereotypes internationally, even though the majority of Nigerians are law-abiding citizens,” Mr Taofeeq said.

On his part, a communication expert and columnist based in the UK, Folorunso Adisa, said the few cases of Nigerians jailed for fraud abroad do not indicate anything exceptional about the country.

Noting that Nigerians who committed fraud abroad were individual actors, not representatives of a national character, Mr Fatai noted that every multinational dataset on crime showed that offenders came from several parts of the world.

He added, “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has repeatedly noted that crime has no national monopoly and no country is immune. The same applies to Americans, Britons, Indians, Pakistanis, Romanians and others who are convicted daily across Europe and the U.S..’’

Both Messrs Taofeeq and Fatai stressed the urgent need to strengthen good governance and amplify positive narratives, urging Nigerians abroad to represent the country with dignity, honesty and dedication to uplift its enduring spirit and promise.