The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says a Lagos–based internet fraudster, Ehiremen Aigbokhan, stole more than ₦460 million meant for President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration and moved the money through cryptocurrency.
In court papers filed in Washington, D.C., the FBI asked a judge to let agents seize Mr Aigbokhan’s crypto wallets and other property. Investigators also secured an arrest warrant for him on charges of cryptocurrency fraud and money-laundering.
“We traced the stolen crypto to accounts controlled by Mr Aigbokhan in Lagos. This was a sophisticated business-email-compromise scheme designed to fool donors,” the filing states.
How the scam worked
According to the FBI, Mr Aigbokhan and unnamed partners set up fake email addresses that looked almost identical to those used by the official Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. One fake address, @t47lnaugural.com, replaced the letter i in “inaugural” with a lowercase L to mislead victims.
On 26 December 2024, a victim received the fake email and sent 250,300 USDT.ETH (about ₦400 million at today’s parallel-market rate) to the scammers. Within days, the gang moved 215,000 USDT.ETH into several new wallets.
Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, froze the suspicious wallets on 31 December after an FBI request.
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Digital trail leads to Lagos
Agents say the frozen wallets link directly to a Binance account opened by Mr Aigbokhan in October 2024—an account with no previous deposits until the stolen crypto arrived. Internet-protocol (IP) records for the fake emails and wallet logins all point to locations in Lagos.
The FBI has already seized 20,017 USDT.ETH from one wallet and 20,336 USDT.ETH from another, worth roughly ₦60 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock Jr. asked the court to order final forfeiture of the funds.
“If the scammers believed distance would shield them, they are mistaken. U.S. law reaches anyone who attacks our democratic process,” Mr Blaylock said.