A U.S. court has sentenced a Texas-based Nigerian, Edikan Adiakpan, to 30 months in prison for using his company accounts to move illicit funds for fraudsters.

Mr Adiakpan, 35, the founder of Akama Lifestyle, a luxury transportation and lifestyle concierge service based in Houston, Texas, was slammed with 30- month jail term on Thursday.

The Peoples Gazette in May reported that Mr Adiakpan was convicted for aiding Yahoo Boy’s criminal activities.

U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement said District Judge, Andrew Hanen, ordered him to serve 30 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

Investigations showed that Mr Adiakpan acted as a money mule, popularly known as “picker” in the Nigerian parlance, using his company’s accounts to move funds for fraudsters while taking some percentage of the funds as his commission.

“The court heard evidence that from 2020 to 2022, Mr Adiakpan used “Akama Lifestyle,” a company he controlled and advertised as a luxury car service to transfer funds for others. He kept a percentage of transferred funds as a fee,” the DoJ said.

It added, “The funds Adiakpan received and transmitted originated from fraudsters who carried out a business email compromise scheme targeting more than 10 victims.” 

While it was established that Mr Adiakpan had temporary legal status to be in the United States when he was arrested, investigations also found that he “deposited and redeemed several cashier’s checks payable to himself and his exotic car company that contained $359,000 of the victim’s money.”

Another Nigerian national, 27-year-old Ayobami Omoniyi, convicted in the fraudulent schemes Mr Adiakpan was sentenced for, was earlier sentenced to 32 months in federal prison for his role in the scheme on March 24.