A 35-year-old Nigerian, Olamide Shanu, has pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiracy to commit money laundering after participating in international sextortion and romance fraud schemes that targeted about 150 Americans. US prosecutors said Shanu and his co-conspirators generated more than $2.5 million from the schemes. 

According to court documents, the group targeted male victims in sextortion schemes by persuading them to send intimate images before threatening to share the material with their friends and relatives unless they paid money. In separate romance scams, the conspirators allegedly used fake identities on social media to develop deceptive relationships, often targeting older men and women, before asking them for money under various false and urgent pretences.

Prosecutors said proceeds from the schemes were moved through peer-to-peer payment applications and cryptocurrency wallets before being transferred to co-conspirators in Nigeria. Shanu was extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face the case, which is being investigated by the US Secret Service and Boise Police Department.

Shanu is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15, 2026, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. A federal judge will determine the actual sentence after considering the applicable sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.