Nigerian Man Sentenced for Wire Fraud Conspiracy

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Tope Gbenga Opaogun, 43, of Nigeria, was sentenced on July 26, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for wire fraud conspiracy. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Opaogun to 24 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Opaogun’s release from prison, he will begin a 3-year term of supervised release. Chief Judge Rossiter ordered Opaogun to pay restitution in the amount of $193,458.21. Opaogun will be deported to Nigeria after serving his sentence.

Between October 21, 2013, and November 5, 2013, Opaogun and a co-defendant, both who were located outside of the United States, compromised the email account of an individual who had a personal bank account at a bank located in the District of Nebraska.  Opaogun used the compromised email account to fraudulently induce employees at the bank to wire funds from the individual’s personal bank account to a third-party bank account controlled by Opaogun and a co-defendant.  Opaogun’s use of the compromised email account induced bank employees to make six unauthorized wire transfers totaling $234,990 to the third-party bank account. Opaogun attempted three additional unauthorized wire transfers totaling $182,000, but those attempts were unsuccessful.

On May 22, 2018, an Indictment charging Opaogun and a co-defendant was filed in the United States District Court in the District of Nebraska.  On August 11, 2022, Opaogun was arrested in Senegal on the District of Nebraska warrant. He was extradited from Senegal, where Opaogun was vacationing at the time, to the United States under the supervision of the FBI. 

The FBI continues to seek the co-defendant for arrest and prosecution.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.