Nigerian Fraudster Jailed In The U.S For About $1Billion Illegal Wire Transfers

Fawaz Olanrewaju Animasaun will spend the next two years in jail in the United States for defrauding East Texans and others out of nearly $1 million.

Twenty seven year-old Animasaun, is one of two persons named in a federal indictment for charges of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, as well as aiding and abetting.

He was traveling to the U.S. from Ghana, by way of Amsterdam, when he was arrested at the airport in New York in November last year. Under a plea agreement finalized in May, Animasaun is serving three years in prison on the conspiracy charge. He is ordered to pay $930,737.60 in restitution to three financial companies.

Court documents show Animasaun will pay $135,989 to East Texas-based Austin Bank as part of that restitution. In addition, the agreement states that Northern Trust Company is due $46,800 and UMB Financial Corporation is due $747,948.60.

Animasaun and his alleged accomplice Idowu Temitope Omolade, also from Nigeria, are believed to be involved in at least 21 fraudulent wire transfers between April and August of 2012.