A US court has sentenced Oluwaseun Adekoya, a 40-year-old Nigerian-born resident of New Jersey, to 20 years in federal prison for running a nationwide bank-fraud and identity-theft scheme targeting home equity lines of credit. According to prosecutors, Adekoya — known by several aliases — was convicted after a three-week trial and described as someone who “abused the privilege of lawful permanent resident status to steal the identities of innocent Americans”. Thirteen accomplices earlier pleaded guilty.
Investigators said the scheme began to unravel in May 2022 after a New York credit union detected impersonation attempts and alerted the FBI. Authorities seized burner phones, luxury items, and cash linked to the fraud, while Judge Mae A. D’Agostino called Adekoya “a perpetual thief” and “flagrant serial offender”. He must pay over $2.2 million in restitution, serve five years of supervised release, and faces deportation after completing his sentence.