A Nigerian man, Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, will face trial for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in the United States.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos authorised the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to extradite him.
Justice Akintayo Aluko gave the order on June 14, 2024, following the AGF’s application filed and argued by Kehinde Adesola Fagbemi of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Specifically, the Federal Government prayed for the surrender/extradition of Abiodun, the respondent, to face two counts:
“Wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C), Section 1343, carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
“Conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C), Section 1956 (h), carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years”.
Abiodun, through his counsel, Demola Adekoya, denied the allegations, and challenged, among others, the court’s power to order his extradition.
But, evaluating the evidence against him, Justice Aluko found that the Federal Government provided sufficient evidence to show that Abiodun had a case to answer in America.
He reasoned that the respondent misconceived the issues of the Treaty between Nigeria and the United States authorising the court to grant an extradition request.
According to a certified true copy of the judgment quoted by Gavel International, the respondent denied the allegations of the applicant while claiming that he lived all his life in Nigeria and he had never travelled to the US.
He claimed neither had any business/romantic relationship with anyone in the US, nor did he commit any offence either in Nigeria or in the US
He added that he did not co-conspire with anyone to commit money laundering or deal in wire fraud against one J. S., a student at the Kutztown University within the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (now deceased as claimed by the Applicant).
He denied using Snapchat or having a persona of “ALICE_D013” allegedly used to demand money from J.S. and that he had never been tried or convicted by any court in Nigeria for the offence being alleged against him.
Furthermore he claimed that he was just a victim of persecution for being a friend to someone who was tagged as “a friend from WhatsApp” while conducting a lawful business operated by a registered cryptocurrency platform called Binance with which he is lawfully registered.
