A federal jury in Toledo, Ohio convicted three individuals on April 24 of participating in an international email hacking and fraud scheme that targeted more than 1,000 victims across the United States and abroad, resulting in approximately $215 million in losses.
The convictions highlight the scale and reach of so-called business email compromise scams, which can have a significant impact on businesses and individuals. The scheme affected victims in 47 states and 19 countries.
Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi of Romeoville, Illinois; Aruan Drake of Atlanta, Georgia; and Peter Reed of Oak Forest, Illinois were found guilty of wire fraud conspiracy. Awoyemi and Drake were also convicted of money laundering conspiracy. U.S. District Judge James R. Knepp II presided over the trial. In total, 25 defendants have been convicted for their roles in this operation.
According to court documents presented during the trial, members of Nigerian-linked organizations hacked into email accounts belonging to businesses and individuals throughout the United States to monitor communications and learn about financial transactions. Once they had gathered enough information about a victim’s activities, co-conspirators sent fraudulent emails designed to appear as legitimate requests for payment related to business dealings. Payments obtained from these schemes were laundered through networks involving fake bank accounts and cash transfer systems.
About $50 million from stolen funds was used to purchase cashier’s checks at New Dolton Currency Exchange near Chicago—owned by co-defendant Lon Goodman—who accepted false identification or checks payable to others despite warnings from banks about suspicious activity. Assets seized during the investigation included nearly $1.2 million worth of cashier’s checks, cryptocurrency, cash, several luxury watches valued up to $140,000 each, and a residence in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Victims included businesses located across Ohio cities such as Norwalk, Kent, Akron, Hudson, Maple Heights, Westfield Center, New Riegel and Greenwich; other states with identified victims include New York, California and Texas among many others; international victims were found as far as Canada (as reported by official court documents).
The sentences for each defendant will be determined by the Court after reviewing individual circumstances including prior criminal records where applicable.
Investigations leading up to these indictments involved multiple agencies including FBI Cleveland Division—the chief federal law enforcement office for its district under the U.S Department of Justice according to the official website—the U.S Postal Inspection Service and U.S Border Patrol Sandusky Bay Intelligence Unit.
The U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio enforces federal criminal laws related to national security issues such as public corruption while defending civil suits against the United States according to its official website. The office covers forty northern counties within Ohio with locations in Cleveland (main), Toledo (where this case was tried), Akron and Youngstown according to its official website. It promotes community safety through outreach efforts—including collaboration with schools—and provides victim services across northern Ohio according to its official website.
