Nigerian Extradited From Benin Faces US Charges Over Alleged $100m Tax Fraud.
A Nigerian man, Akinade Adedeji Raheem, 43, has appeared before a United States federal court over an alleged scheme to obtain more than $100 million in tax refunds using stolen identities.
Raheem was extradited from the Republic of Benin, where he was arrested in April, to face charges including fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
He was arraigned on Monday and remanded in the custody of the US Marshals Service pending further proceedings.
Prosecutors allege that Raheem and his co-conspirators filed more than 300 fraudulent tax returns between 2018 and 2023 using the identities of tax professionals and American taxpayers. According to the US attorney’s office, Raheem, who lived in Atlanta, worked with Abayomi Quadri Eletu, a resident of the United Kingdom and Nigeria, and other alleged accomplices to obtain personal information, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers. The information was allegedly used to submit false tax returns and direct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to pay refunds into prepaid debit cards sent to addresses controlled by the group. US authorities said some of the proceeds were laundered through money orders and used to purchase second-hand cars at auctions, with some vehicles later shipped to Nigeria.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with Arise News.