Court convicts Nigerian teenager for defrauding American of $800

A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced an 18-year-old man, Hassan Usman Olamilekan, for money laundering involving $800 obtained through a lottery scam, Vanguard reports.

Justice Dipeolu delivered the judgment on October 30, 2026. Olamilekan pleaded guilty to a one-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was fined N200,000 and ordered to pay N1 million in restitution to the Federal Government. He remains in a correctional centre pending payment, and two phones recovered in the case were forfeited.

The EFCC said he posed as a white American woman, Julie Leach, on the Zangi app and told his victim, Gary Brewer, that he had won a $250 million lottery but needed money to activate it. Brewer sent gift cards, which Olamilekan sold and paid into his grandmother’s OPay account, the EFCC said.

He was among 21 suspects arrested in Lekki on October 26, 2026.