By Stephen Simon
A 41-year-old Nigerian, Babajide Adesayo, has been convicted by a federal jury in the United States for laundering more than $2.7 million obtained from elderly victims of romance fraud and other online scams.
The United States Department of Justice said Adesayo, a resident of Douglasville, Georgia, was convicted on August 6, 2026, following an eight-day trial.
According to the DOJ, the jury found him guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 16 counts of transactional money laundering.
Adesayo is scheduled to be sentenced on November 20, 2026, before United States District Judge Mark H. Cohen.
The DOJ said he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the conspiracy counts and up to 10 years on each of the transactional money-laundering counts. He could also receive a consecutive sentence of up to 10 years for allegedly committing additional offences while on release.
Prosecutors said Adesayo was part of a complex transnational fraud network that targeted elderly victims online between April 2020 and September 2021.
The victims were allegedly approached through online platforms and developed relationships with fraudsters posing as friends, business associates or romantic partners. After establishing trust, the fraudsters allegedly fabricated emergencies and requested financial assistance, claiming at various times that they needed money for business equipment, medical problems, injuries or to secure their release from prison.
The victims were then allegedly persuaded to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars, including retirement savings and other income, to business accounts controlled by Adesayo’s co-defendant, Nigerian national Efemena Igbe.
The DOJ said Igbe would subsequently transfer most of the funds to Adesayo while allegedly disguising the transactions as payments for the purchase of vehicles from Adesayo’s automotive business.
Upon receiving the money, Adesayo allegedly transferred most of the proceeds almost immediately to overseas accounts in China, Hong Kong, Nigeria and other countries in an attempt to conceal the source of the funds and make recovery more difficult.
Over a 17-month period, prosecutors said Adesayo received and moved more than $2.7 million in funds obtained from victims.
US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Theodore S. Hertzberg, described Adesayo as a key member of a transnational network that preyed on elderly victims and moved their money overseas.
“Adesayo was a key member of a complex, transnational network that preyed upon elderly victims and siphoned their retirement savings overseas,” Hertzberg said.
He added that Adesayo continued laundering money even after his indictment, arrest and release on bond.
The FBI also said the victims included vulnerable elderly people who lost substantial amounts of money after being deceived through online relationships.
According to prosecutors, Adesayo was initially arrested in June 2024 and released on bond without being required to pay bail. However, while awaiting trial, he allegedly continued receiving and moving suspected fraud proceeds through business accounts.
The new criminal activity allegedly involved victims sending money directly to Adesayo’s business accounts or to accounts belonging to other individuals who subsequently transferred the funds to him.
Prosecutors said Adesayo would then withdraw the money or transfer it to himself and other accounts almost immediately after receiving it.
Following the discovery of the alleged continued laundering activity, a federal magistrate judge revoked his bond. Adesayo has remained in federal custody since March 2, 2026.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the US Secret Service, Concord Police Department in New Hampshire, DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi and the New York City Police Department.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant US Attorneys Bethany L. Rupert, Sara Lim and Kelly Connors.
The DOJ said the case forms part of the work of its Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, which focuses on investigating and prosecuting foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately target elderly Americans.
The strike force investigates various forms of fraud, including romance scams, telephone scams, mass-mailing fraud and technology-support scams.
Adesayo’s conviction comes amid growing concern among US law-enforcement agencies over transnational fraud networks that exploit elderly victims online before moving the proceeds across international borders.
The court will determine his actual sentence in November after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines, which the DOJ noted are advisory rather than binding.
