Baltimore City Wire

Olusegun Samson Adejorin, a Nigerian national, was extradited from Ghana and arrived in the United States on August 30, 2024, to face federal charges for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and unauthorized access to a protected computer related to a $7.5 million scheme to defraud two charitable organizations. Adejorin had his initial appearance on August 30, 2024, and is currently detained pending trial.

The extradition was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, and Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Baltimore Field Office.

According to the eight-count indictment, between June and August 2020, Adejorin perpetrated a scheme to defraud Victim 1, a charitable organization located in Maryland providing investment services to other organizations, and Victim 2, a charitable organization located in New York. He allegedly gained access to employee email accounts and impersonated employees to induce financial transactions. The indictment alleges that Adejorin posed as an employee of Victim 2 to request withdrawals of Victim 2’s funds from Victim 1. Withdrawals over $10,000 required approval from at least one of several individuals authorized by Victim 1.

Adejorin is accused of fraudulently obtaining the credentials of employees at both organizations and posing as those employees to send emails making fraudulent requests for withdrawal of investment funds. As part of the scheme, he allegedly purchased a credential harvesting tool designed to steal email login credentials, registered spoofed domain names, and concealed fraudulent emails from legitimate employees by moving them within their mailboxes.

As detailed in the indictment, Adejorin caused more than $7.5 million of Victim 2’s funds to be sent from Victim 1 to bank accounts that were not associated with Victim 2.

If convicted, Adejorin faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of five counts of wire fraud; up to five years for unauthorized access to a protected computer; and mandatory sentences totaling four years for two counts of aggravated identity theft. The maximum penalty for two wire fraud counts could be increased by seven years due to false registration and use of domain names. Actual sentences are typically less than maximum penalties; sentencing will consider U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt; an individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless proven guilty at trial.

U.S. Attorney Barron commended the FBI Baltimore Field Office for its work in the investigation and thanked various Ghanaian authorities including the FBI Legal Attaché in Accra, Ghana's Economic and Organized Crime Office among others for their assistance. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs collaborated with Ghana's Attorney-General's office on securing Adejorin's extradition.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office visit www.justice.gov/usao-md or https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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