A Nigerian, Olusegun Adejorin, has been convicted by a United States federal jury for defrauding two charitable organisations based in Maryland and New York of about $7m.
Adejorin was found guilty after a six-day trial on multiple counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorised access to a protected computer to obtain information.
The 32-year-old was previously extradited from Ghana to the United States over the offences, which were committed between June and August 2020.
The conviction was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the United States Department of Justice, Maryland District.
According to the statement, Adejorin unlawfully accessed employee email accounts of the victim organisations and impersonated staff members to manipulate financial transactions.
The statement read, “Adejorin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of the five counts of wire fraud, a maximum of five years for unauthorised access to a protected computer, and a mandatory two years, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft.”
