Nigerian who fled US in 2019 arrested at Boston airport over elderly fraud scheme

A 34-year-old Nigerian man accused of fraud and money laundering targeting elderly Americans has been arrested at a US airport after fleeing to Nigeria in 2019.

Adetunji Abudu, from Lagos, was arrested at Logan International Airport in Boston while trying to enter the country from Istanbul, Turkey, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island said.

As reported by Punch, Abudu is one of six defendants charged in a superseding indictment alleging that millions of dollars from fraud schemes run from Nigeria were laundered through US bank accounts and businesses.

“Abudu fled the United States to Nigeria in 2019 after the FBI executed a court-authorised search of his residence in North Providence. Five of Abudu’s co-defendants, Dotun Olawale Alonge, Oluwaseyi Akintol, Samson Ikotun, Olabode Shaba, and Oladipup Shodipu subsequently plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and received sentences ranging from time served to 42 months’ imprisonment,” the statement read.

The office stressed that an indictment is an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.