A federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, has found a Nigerian national guilty of masterminding a complex cyber fraud that siphoned more than $7.5 million from two charitable organisations in the United States.
The defendant, 32-year-old Olusegun Samson Adejorin, was convicted after a six-day jury trial that ended on December 18, 2025. The verdict was announced on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Kelly O. Hayes. Adejorin was found guilty on multiple charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorised access to protected computer systems.
Prosecutors told the court that between June and August 2020, Adejorin infiltrated email accounts belonging to staff of a Maryland-based investment services charity and a separate New York nonprofit organisation. Using spoofed internet domains, he posed as legitimate employees of the New York charity and sent fake fund withdrawal requests to the Maryland firm.
To reinforce the deception, Adejorin also hijacked the email accounts of Maryland staff members and used them to transmit fabricated approvals and confirmations, making the transactions appear genuine. As a result, more than $7.5 million was wrongly released into accounts controlled by the fraudster instead of being transferred to the intended beneficiary.
Investigators revealed that the operation relied on advanced technical methods. Adejorin obtained specialised software designed to harvest email login credentials and deliberately concealed fraudulent messages by relocating them within victims’ inboxes. He also bypassed internal safeguards, including mandatory approvals for withdrawals above $10,000, by compromising the email accounts of authorised personnel.
Adejorin was arrested in Ghana on December 29, 2023, following a request from U.S. authorities. He was extradited to the United States on August 30, 2024. Officials said the arrest and transfer were made possible through close collaboration between American and Ghanaian law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service and the National Intelligence Bureau.
The conviction exposes Adejorin to lengthy prison terms. Each of the five wire fraud counts carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years, while unauthorised computer access attracts up to five years. The aggravated identity theft charge mandates a consecutive two-year prison term. Sentencing has been scheduled for April 10, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang.
The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Rosenthal and Darren S. Gardner, with the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinating extradition efforts.
Authorities say the case underscores the rising threat of business email compromise scams, particularly against charitable organisations, and highlights the importance of cross-border cooperation in tackling cybercrime that transcends national boundaries.
