SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A fifth individual has been found guilty in a broad conspiracy to launder millions of dollars obtained through international fraud operations, many of which specifically targeted elderly and vulnerable Americans.
On Monday, a federal jury in Puerto Rico convicted Oluwasegun Baiyewu, 37, from Richmond, Texas, of conspiracy to commit money laundering after a trial that lasted 22 days. Prosecutors allege that Baiyewu, along with four co-defendants, laundered money obtained from romance scams, fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment claims, and business email compromise schemes. The illegal funds were channeled through numerous transactions and were partially used to buy used vehicles, which were subsequently shipped to Nigeria.
The other defendants — Oluwaseun Adelekan and Temitope Omotayo from Staten Island, New York; Ifeoluwa Dudubo from Austin, Texas; and Temitope Suleiman from Richmond, Texas — had already been found guilty in relation to the scheme.
“This conviction is a message to transnational crime groups: you cannot victimize Americans with impunity,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for Puerto Rico emphasized that the scheme exploited seniors and businesses, turning “illicit gains into a facade of legitimacy.”
The deceptive actions mainly occurred from 2020 to 2021, affecting victims in California, Illinois, Washington, Nevada, Puerto Rico, and Missouri. This intricate money laundering scheme was linked to Nigerian transnational organized crime syndicates.
