NORFOLK, Va. — A Nigerian man was extradited from the United Kingdom for allegedly defrauding a Virginia university, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
Olabanji Egbinola, 42, was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to a criminal complaint, from Sept. 26, 2018, to Dec. 26, 2018, Egbinola allegedly conspired with others to defraud a Virginia-based university.
Richmond-based station NBC12 reports that the school impacted was Virginia Commonwealth University.
Egbinola and co-conspirators allegedly created and used a fraudulent email account that incorporated the name of a construction company with a large, ongoing contract with the university.
Using this email account, officials say Egbinola and his team deceived the university into transferring $469,819.49 to their bank account.
That money was purportedly laundered and transferred overseas. Evidence gathered during the investigation shows that Egbinola repeatedly accessed the email account used to defraud the Virginia university, the DOJ said.
Egbinola was arrested in the UK on April 23, 2020, alongside two other Nigerian citizens who allegedly defrauded universities in North Carolina and Texas.
Altogether, the three men are accused of causing more than $5 million in losses.
On Sept. 3, 2021, the United States ordered them to be extradited, but all three filed appeals that the UK High Court ultimately rejected on July 12, 2022.
The DOJ described their alleged crimes as a business email compromise (BEC) fraud scheme, also known as “cyber-enabled financial fraud."
The scam often targets employees with access to company finances, businesses working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments.
The same criminal organizations that pull off frauds like this also exploit individual victims, often realtors and the elderly, by convincing them to make wire transfers to their bank accounts.
People have to be careful. Oftentimes, these criminals do that by impersonating someone in your business after getting access to their email account. Other common frauds are "romance" and "lottery scams."
If you suspect you've fallen victim to a BEC scheme, you can file a complaint online through the FBI's IC3 portal.
For more information about BEC scams, visit the FBI's website.