A Dublin man with links to an international criminal organization has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for fraud, money laundering, and social welfare theft.
Fraudulent Operations & Criminal Ties
Oluwasegun Azeez (31), who referred to a Ghana-based figure as “Boss”, played a key role in a global fraud network between 2020 and 2022. He was responsible for:
Recruiting money mules to launder illicit funds
Opening fraudulent bank accounts for financial scams
Orchestrating business email compromise fraud
Obtaining an Audi Q3 jeep through deception
According to Gardaí, Azeez was ranked Level 4 within the organization, just one step below its overall leader.
Social Welfare & Business Email Fraud
The investigation initially focused on Azeez’s involvement in a Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scam that defrauded the government of €49,500. Using stolen staff details from a business, he funneled the money into 21 bank accounts, over half of which were directly linked to him.
Further investigations revealed that Azeez was involved in business email compromise fraud, where fake emails were sent to companies redirecting employee salaries into accounts under his control.
Phishing Scams & Recruitment
During a search of his home, Gardaí discovered:
A video of Azeez with others attempting a phishing scam
Text messages showing him recruiting individuals for scams
Scripts he provided for fake bank calls
Instructions to mules on where to move stolen funds
His phone and laptop contained evidence of links to a Ghana-based fraud ring involved in identity theft, smishing, phishing, and money laundering.
Sentencing & Mitigation
Azeez pleaded guilty to:
Participating in organized crime
Deception & fraud
Social welfare fraud
Money laundering
Judge Martin Nolan initially set a headline sentence of 11 years but reduced it to 6.5 years due to mitigating factors, including Azeez’s early guilty plea, lack of prior convictions, and a letter of apology expressing remorse.
His defense highlighted personal struggles, including periods of homelessness as a teenager, a strong academic background, and his role as a father seeking financial stability.
Despite his claims of wanting to reform, Gardaí emphasized that Azeez was deeply embedded in organized fraud and played a significant role in scamming individuals and institutions worldwide.
