FG Extradites Olamilekan Fatade To US Over $3.5M Fraud

A wire fraud suspect, Idowu Olamilekan Fatade, who was on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has been extradited to the United States for allegedly stealing over $3.5M worth of equipment in various cities.

He was wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly stealing over $3.5million worth of equipment.

The citizen is accused of impersonating various cities and academic institutions in America.

Olamilekan’s extradition on July 14 was locally coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was received in the U.S. on 19 July, the Department of Justice in southern New York said.

His extradition followed a notice from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI New York, through the US Legal Attache for his role in impersonating various cities, states, and academic institutions across the United States.

Fatade was indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York for offenses of wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, and identity theft.

The suspect was arrested on September 30, 2021, by operatives of the EFCC and his extradition trial commenced sometime in November 2021 before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.

On May 1, 2022, the Judge granted the request to extradite the suspect to the United States to answer the criminal charges against him.

Upon his arrival in the United States, Fatade appeared before a United States District Court judge in New York.

Fatade is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison, and 12 counts of aggravated theft, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison to be run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.