By Ghazali Ibrahim
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize property belonging to Ehiremen Aigbokhan, a Lagos-based Nigerian national accused of orchestrating a cryptocurrency scam that diverted more than N460 million from funds intended for the 2025 inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The bureau also confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Aigbokhan, who is wanted in connection with wire fraud, money laundering, and a Business Email Compromise (BEC) operation that targeted donors to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
According to legal filings obtained by , Mr Aigbokhan and his co-conspirators impersonated official email accounts of the inaugural committee, duping unsuspecting contributors into sending cryptocurrency donations to fraudulent digital wallets.
One such attack occurred on December 26, 2024, when an email from @t47lnaugural.com, an exact spoof of the official address @t47inaugural.com was sent to a U.S. donor. Believing it was legitimate, the victim sent 250,300 USDT.ETH, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar, to the scam address. At current black market rates, this sum is valued at over N400 million.
Within days, 215,000 USDT.ETH was rapidly dispersed across multiple wallets to obscure the trail.
However, the FBI quickly detected the scheme and requested crypto firm Tether to freeze the accounts. Tether complied on December 31, stalling further movement of the stolen assets.
Subsequent investigations led federal agents to Mr Aigbokhan in Lagos, Nigeria. According to court documents, IP logs, email metadata, and wallet transaction history all pointed to him as the central figure in the scam. A Binance.com account, created by Mr Aigbokhan in October 2024, received a portion of the stolen crypto funds, its first ever deposit.
Authorities believe the account was set up specifically to launder proceeds from the fraudulent operation.
Digital forensics consistently placed the login activities for the fake email addresses in Lagos, further implicating Mr Aigbokhan and establishing jurisdiction for the FBI’s forfeiture action.
The FBI successfully froze 20,017 USDT.ETH in Mr Aigbokhan’s wallet and an additional 20,336 USDT.ETH held in another linked wallet, totaling over N60 million. The agency is now seeking a U.S. federal court’s approval to permanently seize the assets under civil forfeiture laws.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock Jr., who is leading the prosecution, filed the motion in the District of Columbia.
“This case highlights the evolving nature of global fraud and the necessity for cross-border cooperation to dismantle these schemes,” Blaylock said.
The case is the latest in a series of high-profile international cybercrimes with links to Nigeria.
Experts warn that the combination of weak regulatory oversight, access to crypto infrastructure, and skilled cyber actors continues to make the country a hub for advanced fraud operations.
As of press time, Mr Aigbokhan remains at large, and the FBI has not confirmed whether the Nigerian authorities have been officially contacted for extradition proceedings.
