Oluwaseun Adekoya, a 40-year-old resident of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for his role as the leader of a nationwide bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy. A jury previously found Adekoya guilty of bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and nine counts of aggravated identity theft after a three-week trial.
According to evidence presented at trial, Adekoya used publicly available information to target individuals with home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) at credit unions across the United States. He obtained personal identifying information through encrypted messaging platforms and provided it to managers he recruited nationwide. These managers then directed lower-level workers who impersonated account holders using fake driver’s licenses to withdraw funds from victims’ accounts. To avoid detection, Adekoya relied on burner phones and laundered proceeds through accounts under other names. Some of the stolen funds were used to support further fraudulent activities.
Adekoya has been a lawful permanent resident since 2004 but is also a citizen of Nigeria. U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino described him as “a perpetual thief” and “flagrant serial offender” with a criminal history dating back to 2008.
“For nearly two decades, Oluwaseun Adekoya abused the privilege of lawful permanent resident status to steal the identities of innocent Americans so he could live lavishly in our country, without an ounce of remorse,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III. “Now he gets to spend two decades in prison, and he deserves every last day of his sentence. I look forward to his subsequent removal from the United States.”
Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli stated: “Mr. Adekoya spent almost two decades of his life creating a massive criminal network that stole from hard-working Americans. This sentence ensures he’ll spend the next two decades of his life in federal prison. The FBI is grateful to the numerous law enforcement and banking institution partners who provided the assistance needed to take down Mr. Adekoya and his associates and ensure justice for the victims. We remain deeply committed to using every resource available to investigate and bring to justice any individual or organization focused on defrauding our citizens.”
The investigation began in May 2022 when Broadview Federal Credit Union identified suspicious transactions at its branches in Albany’s Capital Region and referred them to FBI-Albany. This led authorities to uncover Adekoya’s central role in coordinating similar schemes nationwide and resulted in charges against 13 additional co-conspirators, all of whom pleaded guilty before trial.
Adekoya was arrested on December 12, 2023, following which authorities seized multiple burner phones along with luxury items such as Rolex watches, a $51,000 Tiffany engagement ring, designer handbags and shoes, and about $26,000 from an account used for laundering proceeds; these assets have since been forfeited by the government.
In addition to imprisonment, Adekoya must serve five years supervised release after completing his sentence and pay more than $2.2 million in restitution plus a mandatory special assessment fee; he will also be subject to removal from the United States upon release.
Other defendants received sentences ranging from time served up to eleven years’ incarceration depending on their roles within the scheme; one codefendant awaits sentencing next year.
The case was investigated by FBI-Albany with support from various federal field offices across several states as well as local law enforcement agencies throughout New York and other states including Florida, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana—and several federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of State Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG), U.S Postal Inspection Service among others.
Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin S. Clark, Mathew M. Paulbeck, and Joshua R. Rosenthal prosecuted this case.
