Nigerian man extradited from UK to US through cooperation of law enforcement agencies across multiple countries
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigerian Ehis Akhimie has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States to face allegations of organised crime, including an international fraud scheme targeting elderly consumers in Yankee Country.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed his extradition in an email to The PUNCH which shows that Akhimie’s extradition resulted from extensive coordination and cooperation between the DOJ and law enforcement agencies across multiple countries.
The countries include Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain, and the UK.
Akhimie was extradited from the UK alongside several other suspects, including individuals accused of murder, child rape, leading the MS-13 gang, alien smuggling, Colombian drug trafficking, Russian cybercrime, and immigration fraud.
“The dedicated, persistent work of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs with foreign partners resulted in the extradition of fugitives wanted in the United States for violent crimes,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of DOJ Criminal Division.
“The Justice Department will aggressively pursue and bring to justice to the United States transnational criminals and hold them accountable for the death and violence they have committed here and abroad.”
Akhimie, 41, was extradited to the Southern District of Florida, where he faces charges for allegedly participating in a transnational criminal organisation that ran an inheritance fraud scheme targeting elderly consumers in the US.
“The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendants’ arrests and extraditions along with the U.S. Marshals Service,” the report said.
“The Justice Department thanks and acknowledges the instrumental role of its law enforcement partners in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom for making these extraditions possible.”
Two Nigerian brothers, Samuel and Samson Ogoshi, who targeted a 17-year-old in a sextortion scam were sentenced to 17 years and six months in jail in the US last September after their extradition from Lagos.
Court documents said they lured Jordan DeMay into sending them explicit images by pretending to be a girl his age – then blackmailed him.
The victim killed himself less than six hours after they started talking on Instagram.
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