Extradited Nigerian National Pleads Guilty in $2.5M Sextortion and Romance Scam Scheme Targeting 150 Americans

A Nigerian national has pleaded guilty in the District of Idaho to money laundering charges stemming from his role in cyber-enabled sextortion and romance fraud schemes that defrauded approximately 150 American victims and caused millions of dollars in losses, the Justice Department announced.

Olamide Shanu, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Shanu made more than $2,500,000 from the fraud schemes, according to the Justice Department.

According to court documents, Shanu and his co-conspirators participated in an international, financially motivated sextortion, romance fraud and money laundering scheme.

In the sextortion scheme, Shanu and his co-conspirators typically targeted male victims, persuaded them to send sexual images of themselves, and then threatened to send the images to the victims’ friends and family unless payments were made. They extorted numerous victims across the United States, including an individual located in Idaho.

In the romance scams, Shanu and his co-conspirators used fake identities on social media to contact victims — typically older women and men — and established deceptive emotional relationships. They gained the victims’ trust, persuaded them they had a romantic future together, and then convinced them to send money based on various purportedly urgent needs for funds.

Proceeds from the schemes were laundered using peer-to-peer payment applications and several cryptocurrency wallet addresses before being transferred to co-conspirators in Nigeria, authorities said.

“This case exposes a sophisticated international scheme that exploited Americans through sextortion and romance fraud, laundering millions in criminal proceeds,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Criminals, like Olamide Shanu, who prey on vulnerable victims in this manner rob them of their savings and sense of decency. The Criminal Division’s Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative was launched to confront exactly these threats — dismantling networks like this and ensuring justice for those harmed.”

U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis for the District of Idaho said the prosecution demonstrates a commitment to holding cybercriminals accountable regardless of where they operate.

“By securing the extradition of this defendant from Nigeria and bringing him to justice for sextortion and other cyber-enabled fraud schemes, we are sending a clear message that those who exploit victims and launder millions in illicit proceeds will face serious consequences,” Davis said. “This guilty plea, involving more than $2.5 million in laundered proceeds, reflects the dedicated efforts of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners to disrupt international criminal networks, protect victims, and ensure that cyber-enabled crime does not go unanswered.”

Assistant Director Brent Daniels of the U.S. Secret Service’s Office of Field Operations called financially motivated sextortion a heinous crime.

“Financially motivated sextortion is a heinous crime that preys on fear, shame, and trust to exploit victims in deeply personal ways,” Daniels said. “This guilty plea is an important step toward justice for the victims harmed by this international scheme and reflects the Secret Service’s commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and hold accountable those who use cyber-enabled fraud to target Americans.”

Jury: Hialeah Travel Agency Was Front for $20M Cuban Smuggling, Money Laundering Ring

A federal jury in the Middle District of Florida convicted Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez, 28, of Hialeah, Florida, for his role in an international alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, the Justice Department announced.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Cabrera-Rodriguez conspired with others to operate an alien smuggling organization that encouraged thousands of Cuban aliens to enter the U.S. through the southern border. The smugglers charged between $1,500 and $40,000 for their services, and co-conspirators sometimes chartered private planes to transport groups of aliens.

Prosecutors said Cabrera-Rodriguez used his travel agency as a front. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the travel agency “provided a veneer of legitimacy to evade detection” while the defendant falsely completed and filed at least 600 applications for visa waivers, arranged to fly aliens from Cuba to third countries, coordinated with other smugglers throughout the Americas, and laundered over $20 million through 57 bank accounts.

“These criminal offenses targeted our immigration laws designed to keep our borders safe and money laundering laws designed to keep criminal proceeds out of the nation’s financial system,” Duva said.

The defendants often used fraudulent Electronic System for Travel Authorization visa waivers and advertised smuggling and bogus visa services across multiple social media platforms to solicit Cuban nationals and other aliens, according to the release. Financial records showed over $20 million passed through upwards of 57 bank accounts controlled by the defendant and his co-conspirators.

The organization advertised services including assisting Cubans with false claims of European citizenship to enter the United States on a European tourist visa waiver or ESTA, the release said. The organization also filed hundreds of fraudulent ESTA applications with U.S. Customs and Border Protection using fake addresses. Cuban nationals are not eligible for the ESTA program, but the defendants falsely represented that applicants had not been in Cuba since 2011, knowing the applicants were in Cuba at the time the applications were submitted.

Cabrera-Rodriguez helped move aliens from their country of origin, including Cuba, into the United States, including by purchasing international and domestic flights to transport aliens into and throughout the country. Between 2021 and 2024, he and co-conspirators transmitted over $600,000 from the United States to purchase flights for aliens to unlawfully enter the United States.

The jury convicted Cabrera-Rodriguez of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering concealment. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Twelve individuals were charged in a superseding indictment for their roles in the conspiracy. Liannys Yaiselys Vega-Perez, 31, Miguel Alejandro Martinez Vasconcelos, 31, Layra Libertad Treto Santos, 30, Emanuel Martinez Gonzalez, 29, Walbis Pozo-Dutel, 31, Luis Emmanuel Escalona-Marrero, 32, and Gisleivy Peralta Consuegra, 41, have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Erik Ventura-Castro, 24, pleaded guilty on May 7 and was sentenced on July 29 to 30 months in prison.

U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida said the defendant participated in an elaborate conspiracy to breach the nation’s immigration laws and smuggle illegal aliens into the United States for profit.

“We will continue to work with our task force partners to thwart these illegal activities and ensure that our borders are protected,” Kehoe said.

Acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa said the operation was not humanitarian.

“This was not help, and it was not humanitarian; It was a criminal enterprise built on treating people like cargo and using their desperation for financial gain,” Ingegno said. “Alien smuggling organizations do not provide a service; they exploit vulnerable people for profit while undermining the integrity of our borders and immigration system. This conviction reflects the strength of our commitment to dismantling the criminal networks that move people, launder money, and enrich themselves through fraud and deception.”

Maduro Regime Ally Alex Saab Pleads Guilty to Laundering Millions in Venezuela Food and Medicine Scheme

MIAMI — Alex Nain Saab Moran, 54, a former Minister of Industry in the regime of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to conspiring to launder proceeds of a massive bribery and fraud scheme in Venezuela and the United States, the Justice Department announced.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams heard the plea.

According to court documents, Saab carried out a nearly decade-long conspiracy to corruptly profit from a Venezuelan public welfare program for food and medicine known as Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP). As part of the plea, Saab admitted to organizing a system of bribes and other illegal payments to public officials so entities secretly controlled by the conspirators could be awarded lucrative contracts from the Venezuelan government to import food and medicine under the auspices of CLAP.

The conspirators neglected to deliver in full on the contracts and instead used fake companies, false invoices, false shipping records and other fraudulent documents to skim hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their associates, as well as to conceal their association with the illegal activity and avoid detection, authorities said. Saab further admitted that he used shell companies outside Venezuela to launder proceeds of the conspiracy around the world, including to the United States.

“Criminals like Alex Saab who stole from the people of Venezuela and worked to exploit and misuse American financial institutions to fund illicit activities will be held accountable by this FBI,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The message is clear – under the leadership of the Trump administration, this FBI will work with our partners to deploy all necessary resources to protect the integrity of U.S. financial institutions and track down those who profit from these criminal operations.”

“Alex Saab exploited the U.S. financial system to profit off the backs of the Venezuelan people,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He created a complex web of front companies, shell accounts, and false records to perpetuate his scheme, win lucrative public contracts, and line his own pockets as well as his conspirators. The Criminal Division has held Saab accountable and will do the same for others seeking to abuse the U.S. economy for their own gain.”

“Today’s plea agreement signifies a substantial disruption to the illicit financial networks supporting narcoterrorism and political corruption,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole. “DEA has long investigated the financial crimes and networks tied to Alex Saab and his relationship to the former Maduro regime. Thanks to this Administration’s support of law enforcement and DEA’s relentless pressure, Alex Saab will again be brought to justice in the United States.”

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida noted that Saab had previously received clemency while awaiting trial in the district.

“In December 2023, President Biden granted Alex Saab clemency while he was awaiting trial in this district, and Saab was released from federal custody and returned to Venezuela. But that was not the end of the story,” Reding Quiñones said. “Our office built a new criminal case, secured a new indictment in January 2026, and, working with our federal and international partners, brought Saab back before a federal court in Miami on May 18. Today, he is accepting responsibility for his crimes. Saab exploited programs intended to provide critical food and medicine to the Venezuelan people, bribed government officials, and used shell companies and the U.S. financial system to move and conceal criminal proceeds. This case sends a clear message: political connections, wealth, and proximity to a corrupt regime will not put anyone beyond the reach of American justice.”

Saab pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. A sentencing date has not been set. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.