A Nigerian, Olusegun Adejorin, has been sentenced to eight years in a United States prison for orchestrating an email-based fraud operation that cost two charitable organisations more than $7.5m.
Adejorin, 32, was sentenced to 96 months by US District Judge Theodore Chuang after a federal jury convicted him on charges bordering on wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorised access to a protected computer.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced the sentence, saying Adejorin exploited compromised email accounts and impersonation tactics to manipulate financial transactions involving the charities.
According to prosecutors, he created fraudulent internet domains designed to resemble those belonging to employees of one of the organisations.
The fake domains were allegedly used to submit requests for the withdrawal of funds belonging to a New York-based charity from another organisation in Maryland.
Authorities said Adejorin also gained illicit access to staff email accounts at the Maryland charity and used them to make the bogus requests appear legitimate.
The scheme eventually resulted in over $7.5m being transferred to bank accounts that were not owned by the intended beneficiary, prosecutors said.
The authorities described the operation as involving a combination of identity impersonation, compromised email accounts and deceptive online domains to divert the charitable funds.
Adejorin was arrested in Ghana and extradited to the US in August 2024 to face prosecution. His extradition followed cooperation between American and Ghanaian authorities.
A federal jury subsequently found him guilty of all the charges in December 2025 after a six-day trial.
In addition to the prison sentence, Adejorin was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after completing his jail term.
US Attorney Kelly Hayes and FBI Baltimore Field Office Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul announced the sentence, while commending the investigators and Ghanaian agencies involved in the case.
The US Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs worked with Ghana’s Office of the Attorney-General to secure the extradition, while Assistant US Attorneys Joshua Rosenthal and Darren Gardner prosecuted the case.