Notorious Nigerian cybercriminal tied to BEC scams extradited to U.S.

Abiola Kayode, a Nigerian national wanted on the FBI’s cybercriminal list, was extradited from Ghana to the U.S. to face charges for participating in a business email compromise and romance fraud scheme that allegedly stole over $6 million from businesses between January 2015 and September 2016; the Treasury sanctioned Kayode and five others in 2020, several accomplices have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms, and the DOJ/FBI coordination highlights ongoing efforts to disrupt international BEC frauds—FinCEN reports BEC attempts have targeted nearly $9 billion from U.S. financial institutions since 2016.