Two Nigerian nationals have been indicted in the United States for their involvement in a massive $13 million business email compromise (BEC) scam.
The scheme targeted several healthcare companies based in Minnesota.
The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andrew M. Luger, announced the charges this week, detailing how the accused, Shodiya Babatunde, 43, and Jamui Ahmed, 31, defrauded U.S. companies over a four-year period.
The U.S. authorities have described the fraud as one of the largest BEC scams in the health sector in recent years.
According to court documents, Babatunde and Ahmed operated the fraudulent scheme from Nigeria between October 2020 and 2024.
Their target was the employees of multiple healthcare companies in Minnesota, including a prominent organization known as Fairview Health.
The accused reportedly created fake internet domains that closely resembled the legitimate domain of Fairview Health, a well-known healthcare provider in the U.S.
They then made fake email accounts pretending to be high-ranking executives of the company, such as the CEO, Executive Vice President, and a business analyst.
With these fake identities, they launched a “phishing” scheme aimed at obtaining sensitive information from the employees of these healthcare companies.
The stolen information included names, passwords, and access to the accounts used to manage payments.
Once they had obtained this crucial information, Babatunde and Ahmed used it to deceive the companies into making payments to bank accounts they controlled.
The employees of these Minnesota-based healthcare companies were tricked into believing they were wiring money to the legitimate accounts of Fairview Health.
However, the money was actually being funneled into accounts under the control of Babatunde, Ahmed, and their co-conspirators.
U.S. authorities revealed that over $13 million in payments, intended for Fairview Health, was fraudulently directed to these accounts over the course of the scam.
Many of the victims believed they were paying for legitimate services or supplies, only to find out later that their payments had been stolen.
The scam came to light following a thorough investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI, working closely with other law enforcement agencies, uncovered the sophisticated methods used by Babatunde and Ahmed to execute their scam.
The investigation revealed that the fraudsters had gone to great lengths to make their scheme believable, even mimicking the email addresses and signatures of top executives at Fairview Health.
The FBI also uncovered that Babatunde and Ahmed had created similar fake email accounts targeting other healthcare companies in Minnesota, using the same tactics to steal millions.
Despite the detailed indictment and charges filed against Babatunde and Ahmed, the two men remain fugitives.
Both are currently residing in Nigeria and have not been apprehended by U.S. authorities.
The indictment filed in U.S. federal court is only the beginning of the legal process, and both men are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson, who is prosecuting the case, has assured the public that efforts are underway to bring the suspects to justice.
However, the fact that Babatunde and Ahmed remain outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement highlights the challenges of international cybercrime.
