Sex
A 35-year-old Nigerian nationwide, Olamide Shanu, has actually pleaded guilty in the District of Idaho, United States to charges connected to his function in a number of cyber-enabled plans that defrauded roughly 150 American victims and triggered countless dollars in losses.
The United States Department of Justice revealed this in a declaration on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
According to the declaration, Shanu, who made more than $2,500,000 from these scams plans, pleaded guilty on Monday.
He was extradited to the United Kingdom from the United Kingdom in 2025.
“This case exposes an advanced worldwide plan that made use of Americans through sextortion and love scams, laundering millions in criminal profits,” stated Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Criminals, like Olamide Shanu, who take advantage of susceptible victims in this way rob them of their cost savings and sense of decency. The Criminal Division’s Cyber-Enabled Scam Initiative was introduced to face precisely these dangers– taking apart networks like this and guaranteeing justice for those damaged.”
“This prosecution shows our steady dedication to holding cybercriminals responsible, no matter where they run on the planet. By protecting the extradition of this accused from Nigeria and bringing him to justice for sextortion and other cyber-enabled scams plans, we are sending out a clear message that those who make use of victims and wash millions in illegal profits will deal with severe repercussions,” stated U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis for the District of Idaho.
“This guilty plea, including more than $2.5 million in washed earnings, shows the devoted efforts of our district attorneys and police partners to interfere with global criminal networks, safeguard victims, and guarantee that cyber-enabled criminal activity does not go unanswered.”
“Financially determined s3xtortion is an abhorrent criminal activity that victimizes worry, embarassment, and trust to make use of victims in deeply individual methods,” stated Assistant Director Brent Daniels of the U.S. Secret Service’s (USSS) Office of Field Operations.
“This guilty plea is a crucial action towards justice for the victims hurt by this worldwide plan and shows the Secret Service’s dedication to dealing with our police partners to determine, examine, and hold liable those who utilize cyber-enabled scams to target Americans.”
According to court files, Shanu and his coconspirators took part in a global, economically determined sextortion, love scams, and cash laundering plan.
As part of the sextortion plan, Shanu and his co-conspirators normally targeted male victims, encouraged them to send out s3xual pictures of themselves, and after that threatened to send out the victim’s s3xual images to the victim’s loved ones unless the victim paid to the co-conspirators.
Shanu and his co-conspirators taken part in this extortion of many victims throughout the United States, consisting of a specific situated in Idaho. In the love frauds, Shanu and his co-conspirators, utilizing phony identities on social networks, reached victims– generally older females and guys– and developed misleading psychological relationships.
The co-conspirators got the victims’ trust, convinced the victims that they had a romantic future together and after that persuaded the victims to send out the co-conspirators cash based upon different supposedly immediate requirements for funds.
Earnings from the plans were washed utilizing peer-to-peer payment applications and numerous cryptocurrency wallet addresses before being moved to the co-conspirators in Nigeria.
Shanu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to devote cash laundering.
He is arranged to be sentenced on Decembee 15 and deals with an optimum charge of 20 years in jail.
A federal district court judge will identify any sentence after thinking about the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory elements.
The USSS and the Boise Police Department are examining the case.
Senior Counsel Vasantha Rao of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brittney Campbell and Sean Mazorol for the District of Idaho are prosecuting the case.
Significant support was supplied by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department and the U.K. authorities.
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