Prairie State Wire

A foreign national has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for conducting cyber fraud schemes targeting U.S. citizens and businesses. Ridwan Adeleke Adepoju, 33, from Lagos, Nigeria, operated various scams from Nigeria, including phishing and romance scams, as well as submitting fraudulent tax returns. These schemes used spoofed email addresses, fictional social media personas, and unwitting money mules to deceive victims.

Adepoju was arrested in the United Kingdom last year and extradited to the United States. He pleaded guilty in March to charges of federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly sentenced him to 43 months in prison.

The announcement of the sentence was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Ramsey E. Covington, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago; and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

"Defendant’s offense involved a years-long, complex scheme involving several types of scams and many victims,” stated Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant chose to be a willing participant in the scheme over and over again.”