Tuesday, September 1, 2026

New U.S. prosecutor takes over Mr Woodberry’s multimillion-dollar fraud trial

A new U.S. prosecutor has been assigned to take over the multimillion-dollar fraud case involving Olalekan Ponle, aka ‘Woodberry’.

• September 8, 2021

A new U.S. prosecutor has been assigned to take over the multimillion-dollar fraud case involving Olalekan Ponle, aka ‘Woodberry’.

Court documents from the Northern District of Illinois showed that John R. Lausch, Jr would take over future proceedings of Woodberry’s case from Assistant U.S. Attorney Melody Wells of the Northern District of Illinois.

Woodberry’s last court date was before Judge Robert W. Gettleman in August, when his lawyers Michael Nash and Tom Durkin applied for an extension to file pre-trial motions.

The next session is set for November 4.

Mr Ponle had been arraigned on a separate charge in Chicago in July. He was arrested in Dubai alongside Hushpuppi and charged in a U.S. District Court in Chicago with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

In July, the U.S government applied for a motion of dismissal without prejudice granted by Mr Gettleman.

A complaint had accused Mr Ponle of orchestrating “business email compromise” schemes to defraud several U.S.-based companies.

The court documents stated that “the schemes resulted in attempted or actual losses to victim companies in the tens of millions of dollars, including a Chicago-based company that was defrauded into sending wire transfers totalling $15.2 million.”

The jury’s eight-count charge of wire fraud still holds, meaning Mr Ponle stands to forfeit, to the U.S. government, any property derived from proceeds in his offences.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

NAPTIP

Hot news Home top

NAPTIP rescues 3,000 victims, says human trafficking migrating to digital space

Mr Adekoye said the agency also secured more than 20 convictions in 2026 as it intensified operations against human trafficking and exploitation.

Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II and President Bola Tinubu

States

Ooni of Ife hails Tinubu as 100 Ife residents benefit from vehicle credit scheme

“The initiative enables beneficiaries to acquire locally assembled vehicles through affordable consumer credit and repay over an agreed period,” he said.

Heading 2

UK court jails fatigued Nigerian taxi driver six years over fatal crash

Mr Erunkulu, 45, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday for causing death by dangerous driving.

Economy

Fuel price in Nigeria highest among oil-producing countries; war-ravaged Libya sells for N34 per litre: Atiku

Mr Abubakar further accused Mr Tinubu of using the country’s natural resources to punish its citizens.

MISSILES

Heading 5

U.S. launches airstrikes on Iran for second time in three days

The U.S. Central Command said the strikes are in response to recent alleged attacks on American service members and commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.