Nigerian Man Pleads Guilty in $2.5M U.S. Scam Case

A 35-year-old Nigerian national has pleaded guilty in federal court in Idaho to his role in an international cyber fraud network that used sextortion and romance scams to fleece roughly 150 American victims of more than $2.5 million.

Olamide Shanu entered the plea on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 15 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. A judge will determine the actual term after weighing federal sentencing guidelines and other factors.

According to court documents and a Justice Department announcement, Shanu and co-conspirators ran a sophisticated, financially driven operation that combined two classic online confidence schemes. In the sextortion component, the group typically targeted men, used fake female personas on social media to persuade them to share sexual images, and then threatened to distribute those images to the victims’ friends and family unless payments were made. One of the victims lived in Idaho.

Separately, the conspirators conducted romance scams aimed largely at older men and women.

Using fabricated identities, they cultivated emotional relationships online, convinced victims of a shared romantic future, and then extracted money by inventing urgent financial emergencies. Proceeds from both schemes were moved through peer-to-peer payment apps and cryptocurrency wallets before being transferred to co-conspirators in Nigeria.

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Shanu, originally from Lagos, was arrested in London on Nov. 7, 2023, on a U.S. indictment and remained in custody until his extradition to the United States. He made his initial appearance in Idaho federal court in September 2025 on an eight-count indictment that included wire-fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, extortion-related charges and cyberstalking. The guilty plea resolves the money-laundering count; earlier charging papers alleged he and his associates had obtained at least $2 million.

Justice Department officials framed the case as part of a broader crackdown on cyber-enabled scams that cross borders. “This case exposes a sophisticated international scheme that exploited Americans through sextortion and romance fraud, laundering millions in criminal proceeds,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division. “Criminals like Olamide Shanu who prey on vulnerable victims in this manner rob them of their savings and sense of decency.”

U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis for the District of Idaho emphasized the global reach of the investigation and the message it sends: those who exploit victims and move illicit funds internationally will face consequences. Assistant Director Brent Daniels of the U.S. Secret Service’s Office of Field Operations called financially motivated sextortion a particularly destructive crime that “preys on fear, shame, and trust.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Boise Police Department, with substantial assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department and U.K. authorities. Prosecutors from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho are handling the matter. It falls under the department’s Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative, which targets networks that use online deception to defraud Americans.

Shanu’s plea marks a significant step in dismantling one such network, though authorities have not publicly identified other defendants or disclosed whether additional charges remain pending against co-conspirators. Victims’ losses total millions of dollars, and restitution is expected to be addressed at sentencing.