Records reviewed during the investigation showed that Ms Olukoga received approximately $69,966 via Cash App between May and October 2020 and $239,855 via Zelle from 59 individuals between April and November of the same year.
Investigation showed that Ms Olukoga held multiple accounts at Citizens Bank, TD Bank, Santander Bank, Bank of America, and Robinhood, through which funds were transferred and received.
According to the affidavit, Ms Olukoga received approximately $1.77 million in cash deposits into her Citizens Bank accounts within seven months in 2020, while an additional $151,540 was deposited into TD Bank accounts between August 2020 and August 2021.
Prosecutors said transactions were linked to a business email compromise fraud scheme and believed that funds moving through her accounts “could be proceeds of a fraudulent endeavour and/or an effort to launder/conceal these proceeds”.
On April 26, 2022, investigators stopped Ms Olukoga at Newark Liberty International Airport and searched her phone.
According to the affidavit, messages extracted from her phone suggested that Ms Olukoga had been assisting individuals in moving funds from the U.S. to Nigeria in exchange for commissions. The conversations also contained discussions about exchange rates.
“I believe that the message exchange shows that Olukoga was asking for $3 per every $100 that she moved,” Mr Dindinger said in the affidavit.
It was determined in the affidavit that Ms Olukoga’s purported spouse controlled a Nigerian company that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) identified as being involved in money laundering linked to internet fraud.
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