Crypto billionaire, technopreneur arrested for alleged fraud, terrorism funding

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested and charged a tech entrepreneur, Kingsley Inegbedion, for his alleged involvement in romance scams and business email compromise schemes that witnessed him and an accomplice, Efemena Igbe, who is still at large, posing as legitimate business owners to defraud American citizens between April 2020 and May 2023.

According to an online platform, Peoples Gazette, the FBI said the duo used sham corporate entities to receive fraudulent funds distributed into other accounts within and outside the US to conceal the fraud.

The FBI, in a statement, said it had been seeking restitution of funds and forfeiture of property obtained through the fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated by Inegbedion and Igbe, who were said to have used the stolen funds to purchase cashier’s cheques and withdraw cash from various bank accounts.

“Upon conviction of the offences alleged in counts one through 16 of this indictment, the defendants, Efemena Igbe and Kingsley Inegbedion, shall forfeit to the United States of America, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(1), any property, real or personal, involved in such offence, and any property traceable to such property including, but not limited to, a money judgment, that is, a sum of money in United States currency representing the amount of property involved in the offence,” said the FBI statement.

Inegbedion was taken into custody after the grand jury returned the indictment.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force, on Tuesday, confirmed the arrest of a self-acclaimed crypto billionaire, Linus Williams, over alleged fraud, terrorism funding, and non-compliance with regulatory frameworks in the country.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the arrest in a post on X.com on Tuesday, noted that due diligence would be conducted during the investigation involving Williams, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Blord Group of companies.

The post read, “The FCID (NPF-NCCC) is currently investigating complaints lodged against BLORD GROUP, BLORD REAL ESTATE LTD, BLORD JETPAYE LIMITED, and BILLPOINT TECHNOLOGY.

“These offences include allegations of cryptocurrency fraud, aiding Internet fraud, computer-related fraud, terrorism funding, and non-compliance with regulatory frameworks.

“We will do due diligence in our investigations. Our cyberspace in Nigeria must be safe and secure by all means. We are committed to achieving that.”

Some Nigerians had in recent past been arrested, charged and jailed for criminal offences linked to Internet scams, among others.

One such case was Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpupi, who was jailed for 11 years and three months by the United States District Court after he was found guilty of laundering proceeds of a school financing scam, business email compromise and other fraudulent cyber schemes.

The judgment, which was delivered by Justice Otis Wright II, put an end to Hushpuppi’s trial that started after his arrest in June 2020 in his Dubai, United Arab Emirates hotel apartment.

The Assistant Director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Office, Don Alway, in the statement, described Hushpuppi as “one of the most prolific money launderers in the world.”

Similarly, an associate of Abbas, Olalekan Ponle, aka Mr Woodberry, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to forfeit $8m in proceeds of wire fraud as well as luxury cars and watches to the foreign government.

Woodberry, in a plea declaration submitted at the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, pleaded guilty to count one of the indictments, the Peoples Gazette reports.

According to his plea agreement, he is required to pay back the sum of $8 million he fraudulently received from the seven companies that he scammed.

“Defendant understands that by pleading guilty, he will subject to forfeiture to the United States all right, title, and interest that he has in any property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offence,” stated the document containing Mr Ponle’s signed plea declaration.