Oluwaseun Adekoya, a Nigerian national, was convicted by a jury for leading a nationwide bank fraud scheme involving the theft of home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
According to the charges brought against him, Adekoya – who operated under multiple pseudonyms – obtained publicly available information regarding people’s HELOCs at credit unions throughout the nation. He then utilized encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram to obtain Social Security numbers, account numbers, mother’s maiden names, and other personal identifying information for individuals he had identified as having substantial amounts of equity available in their HELOCs.
Adekoya directed a network of collaborators who received this information, along with fake driver’s licenses for lower-level workers to use to impersonate the HELOC customers and conduct withdrawal transactions on their accounts. To insulate himself from detection, Adekoya utilized a web of “burner” phones and encrypted messaging applications and laundered his substantial share of the proceeds through bank accounts in other people’s names.
Furthermore, Adekoya reinvested some of the proceeds into continuing the fraud scheme by purchasing air and bus travel for coconspirators, fake driver’s licenses, and rental cars used to drive workers to credit unions.
Adekoya was admitted to the US as a Lawful Permanent Resident in 2000. However, he had been convicted of numerous identity-fraud related felonies since he was 23 years old in 2008 and never faced deportation.
Adekoya was arrested in December 2023. The jury convicted him of bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and nine counts of aggravated identity theft. He faces sentencing on Oct. 30.
