A Nigerian man was indicted Tuesday in connection with a $7.5 million scheme to defraud two charities, one of which is located in North Bethesda.
Olusegun Samson Adejorin was indicted on eight counts by a federal jury. The counts include wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer. According to the indictment that was announced by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Adejorin impersonated employees and gained access to their email accounts.
Adejorin was arrested in Ghana Dec.23, 2023.
According to the indictment, between June and August of 2020, Adejorin is alleged to have defrauded two charitable organizations, one in North Bethesda and the other in New York City.
The indictment alleges that Adejorin posed as an employee of one organization and requested withdrawals from the other organization. The identities of the two charities were not named.
Adejorin also allegedly purchased a credential harvesting tool designed to steal email login credentials, registered spoofed domain names and concealed the fraudulent emails.
If convicted, Adejorin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of five counts of wire fraud; a maximum of five years in federal prison for unauthorized access to a protected computer; and a mandatory sentence of two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for each of the two counts of aggravated identity theft.
— US Attorney Maryland (@USAO_MD) January 3, 2024
