Two Nigerians declared wanted over $13m fraud
The United States has indicted two Nigerians — Shodiya Babatunde and Jamui Ahmed — for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent business email scheme that cost healthcare companies over $13m.
According to a release by the US Attorney’s Office District of Minnesota on Thursday, the Nigerians fraudulently directed more than $13m in payments intended for Fairview Health from Minnesota-based healthcare companies to accounts controlled by them and their co-conspirators.
A US Attorney Andrew Luger disclosed that Babatunde, 43, and Ahmed, 31, targeted and deceived unsuspecting employees of several Minnesota-based healthcare firms into making payments to their bank accounts.
Luger added that the court documents showed that the duo and their accomplices started those fraudulent activities from October 2020 through to 2024.
He said that the duo had become fugitive from justice after the probe conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“As part of the scheme, Babatunde and Ahmed created a fake ‘spoofed’ internet domain designed to appear as though it was controlled by Fairview Health,” the release stated.
They also created phony email accounts plotted to appear as though they belonged to Fairview Health executives, including the chief executive officer, the executive vice president and general counsel, and a business analyst.
“Babatunde and Ahmed used the fake emails to carry out a ‘phishing’ scheme to fraudulently obtain names, passwords, and access to payment accounts,” the statement said.
The defendants also used their hoax accounts to email several other Minnesota-based health insurance companies and offer new accounts into which such payments planned for Fairview Health should be wired.
The statement added, “Unbeknownst to the vendor companies, the new accounts were actually controlled by Babatunde and Ahmed and their co-conspirators, not Fairview Health.
“In total, Babatunde and Ahmed fraudulently directed more than $13m in payments intended for Fairview Health from Minnesota-based healthcare companies to accounts controlled by Babatunde, Ahmed, and their co-conspirators”.
