A Nigerian national was sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison for leading a money-laundering operation that moved more than $3.1 million in proceeds from schemes targeting Americans, including business-email compromise, romance and unemployment-insurance fraud.
Oluwasegun Baiyewu, 40, of Houston, was sentenced to 95 months in prison after a federal jury convicted him last year of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors said Baiyewu and at least six co-conspirators in the U.S. and Nigeria used money geneAll Postsrated by fraud schemes to purchase used and salvaged vehicles in the U.S. The vehicles were then exported to West Africa as part of an effort to move and conceal the illicit proceeds.
The conspiracy operated from approximately May 2020 through October 2021, according to court documents. Members communicated through encrypted messaging applications, including WhatsApp, to coordinate the receipt of fraud proceeds, vehicle purchases and shipments to Nigeria.
In one case, prosecutors said a renewable-energy company in Puerto Rico was targeted in a business-email compromise scheme and tricked into wiring approximately $280,000 to bank accounts controlled by fraudsters and money launderers.
Baiyewu and his associates then used some of the company’s stolen money to pay for vehicles in the U.S. that were subsequently shipped to Nigeria, according to prosecutors.
A federal jury convicted Baiyewu in August 2025 of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The case is part of a broader federal effort to combat increasingly sophisticated financial scams targeting Americans. The Justice Department’s Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative coordinates prosecutions involving schemes ranging from investment and cryptocurrency fraud to romance scams, government impersonation and financially motivated sextortion.
Federal authorities have increasingly focused on the international networks that receive and launder money after victims are defrauded, in addition to the individuals directly carrying out the scams.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and FBI San Juan Cyber Task Force investigated the Baiyewu case, with assistance from federal task forces focused on unemployment-insurance and COVID-19 fraud.