A United States federal court has convicted a 32-year-old Nigerian national, Olusegun Adejorin, for defrauding two charitable organisations of more than $7.5 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed this in a press release on Saturday, noting that Adejorin was found guilty after a six-day trial in a federal court in Maryland.
According to the DOJ, Adejorin, who was extradited from Ghana in connection with the case, was convicted on multiple counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorised access to a protected computer.
The department said the offences were committed between June and August 2020, when Adejorin targeted a charity based in Maryland and another in New York.
Investigations revealed that he gained unauthorised access to employee email accounts, impersonated staff members and manipulated financial transactions to divert funds belonging to the organisations.
The DOJ stated that Adejorin registered spoofed domain names to pose as employees of one charity and requested withdrawals from the other. He also accessed internal emails to falsely confirm the withdrawal requests, leading to the transfer of more than $7.5 million to bank accounts not associated with the charities.
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U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes, alongside FBI Baltimore Field Office Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its role in investigating the case. The DOJ also acknowledged Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Rosenthal and Darren S. Gardner for prosecuting the matter.
Adejorin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the five counts of wire fraud, up to five years for unauthorised access to a protected computer, and a mandatory two-year prison term for aggravated identity theft, to run consecutively with any other sentence imposed.
Sentencing has been scheduled for April 10, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang.
The DOJ noted that actual sentences are often below the statutory maximum, as judges consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors. It added that the prosecution forms part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative targeting immigration violations, organised crime and violent offences.