Nigerian pleads guilty to defrauding 150 Americans in $2.5m sextortion scam
A 35-year-old Nigerian, Olamide Shanu, has pleaded guilty in the US to a $2.5m sextortion and romance fraud scheme that defrauded about 150 Americans. Read More:…
The case involves Olamide Shanu, a 35-year-old Nigerian who has pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with sextortion and romance-fraud schemes. According to the US Department of Justice, Shanu and his co-conspirators defrauded about 150 people in the US and generated more than $2.5 million. The sextortion scheme involved persuading male victims to send intimate images and then threatening to share those images with their friends and family unless they paid money. The wider operation also targeted older men and women through fake online identities and fabricated romantic relationships, with money moved through peer-to-peer payment services and cryptocurrency wallets before being transferred to co-conspirators in Nigeria.
The key issue now is the extent of Shanu's individual involvement and the eventual legal consequences, rather than whether the underlying scheme existed. His guilty plea establishes his admission to the money-laundering conspiracy, while the prosecution's account describes a broader network involving multiple co-conspirators and victims. The reported $2.5 million figure refers to proceeds from the schemes involving the network, so it shouldn't automatically be interpreted as money personally obtained by Shanu. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15, 2026, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, although the actual sentence will be determined by the federal court after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.