By Mark Fischer
A Nigerian man, Alex Ogunshakin, was sentenced on Thursday to three years and nine months in federal prison for his involvement in a wire fraud scheme that defrauded two businesses in Nebraska out of more than $6 million.
From January 2015 to September 2016, Ogunshakin, 41, and his accomplices engaged in a sophisticated scheme to deceive U.S.-based companies. They used compromised email accounts to send spoofed messages to employees responsible for accounting, posing as company executives to instruct them to execute wire transfers.
The fraudulent activities targeted two Nebraska businesses specifically in February and May of 2015. Investigations revealed that over 70 businesses across the U.S. were affected, leading to losses exceeding $6 million, with attempted losses reaching over $30 million.
Ogunshakin operated mainly from Nigeria, and in October 2020, he was arrested at the request of U.S. authorities. He was extradited three years later.
One of his co-conspirators, Adewale Akinloye, was sentenced to eight years in prison in February 2019. Another suspect, Abiola Kayode, is currently facing extradition proceedings, while additional co-conspirators remain at large. After his prison term, Ogunshakin will serve three years on supervised release before being deported.