Nigerian Fugitive Arrested at US Airport Six Years After Fleeing Trial
US authorities have arrested Nigerian national Adetunji Abudu at Boston Logan International Airport, six years after he fled to Nigeria amid an investigation into an alleged money-laundering conspiracy linked to fraud schemes targeting elderly Americans.
A Nigerian man, Adetunji Abudu, has been arrested at an airport in the United States, six years after leaving the country following a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search of his residence in connection with an alleged fraud case.
Abudu, 34, from Lagos, was apprehended on Monday, October 26, at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, while attempting to enter the United States from Istanbul, Turkey.
According to the US Department of Justice, Abudu fled to Nigeria in 2019 after the FBI conducted a court-authorised search of his residence in North Providence, Rhode Island.
He is one of six defendants named in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Providence. The indictment alleges that the defendants participated in a conspiracy to launder millions of dollars obtained through fraudulent schemes operated from Nigeria, primarily targeting elderly residents of the United States.
Investigators allege that the schemes involved online romance scams, fraudulent sweepstakes, false rental listings and sham online shipping transactions. Money obtained from victims was allegedly channelled through bank accounts and businesses in Rhode Island, Idaho and other locations, with substantial proceeds transferred to Nigeria.
The indictment further alleges that members of the conspiracy used illicit proceeds to purchase vehicles that were subsequently shipped overseas.
Five other defendants in the case, Dotun Olawale Alonge, Oluwaseyi Akintola, Samson Ikotun, Olabode Shaba and Oladipup Shodipupo, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Their sentences ranged from time served to 42 months' imprisonment.
Following his arrest, Abudu appeared before the US District Court in Rhode Island and was ordered detained pending trial. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney John P. McAdams.
The FBI investigated the alleged conspiracy with assistance from the US Postal Inspection Service and police departments in Tallmadge, Ohio, and Moscow, Idaho.
The charges remain allegations, and Abudu is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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