A U.S. jury has convicted a Nigerian national, Olusegun Samson Adejorin, of wire fraud, aggravated theft, and unauthorised access to a protected computer to obtain information.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, announced Mr Ajorin’s guilty verdict on Thursday.

Extradited from Ghana to the U.S. to face trial over wire fraud and other offences, Mr Ajorin, 32, now risks over 100 years in prison.

For leading a fraudulent scheme involving over $7 million, the Department of Justice said Mr 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.

Citing evidence presented at trial, the Department of Justice said that between June and August 2020, Mr Adejorin perpetrated a scheme to defraud a victim, a charitable organisation located in Maryland that provided investment services to other organisations.

Through the scheme, Mr Adejorin defrauded another victim, also a charitable organisation located in New York, by gaining access to its employee email accounts and impersonating employees to induce financial transactions.

Mr Adejorin registered spoofed domain names, which he used to pose as the organisation’s employees and request withdrawals of its funds from the first victim.

According to the Department of Justice, Mr Adejorin also fraudulently obtained access to the first victim’s email accounts, which he used to send emails falsely confirming fraudulent requests made in the second victim’s name.

He ultimately caused more than $7.5 million of the latter’s funds to be sent, pursuant to the fraudulent withdrawal requests, from the first victim to bank accounts that were not the second victim 2’s.

Mr Adejorin’s sentencing is scheduled for April 10, 2026.