Nigerian Fraudstar Arrested And Jailed For $1m Wire Fraud In America

A 27-year-old Nigerian man, will spend the next two years behind bars for defrauding East Texans and others out of nearly $1 million.

The Nigerian national, Fawaz Olanrewaju Animasaun, who has been ordered to repay the sum of $930 million he obtained illegally, was arrested along with another on counts of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, as well as aiding and abetting.

The suspect was arrested on his was to the United States from Ghana through Amsterdam at the New York airport last year November.

Animashaun who entered a plea which was finalized in May was ordered to serve three years in custody for the conspiracy charge.

Further to his sentence, the judge presiding over the case ordered him to pay the sum of $930,737,60 in restitution to three financial companies he defrauded.

Animasaun and his alleged accomplice, another Nigerian, Idowu Temitope Omolade, are believed to have carried out at least 21 fraudulent wire transfers between April and August of 2012.

The men were alleged to have impersonated account holders with the financial institution to exchange mails, harvesting account information to perpetrate the act.

The financial institutions affected by the scam include Wells Fargo, UMB Bank, UMB Financial Corporation, Northern Trust and Northern Trust Corporation.

Animasaun was transferred out of the Gregg County Jail on June 28, in the custody of the U.S. Marshals. Federal Bureau of Prisons records show he is now in a detention center in Brooklyn, New York, and will remain there until June 2019. He could have received up to 30 years in prison for each count of the indictment.

The indictment states that Animasaun kept Omolade informed of the progress, and told him when to expect specific wire transfers. Omolade is not listed as a federal inmate, and there is no record of an arrest.

Aliases listed in the indictment include “Michael Chernick” and “CLICKIDONLINE.”

Animasaun is listed in the indictment with four aliases, including “Larry Hoover” and “Slim Husstle Olanraywaju.”