Crime

FBI Hunts Lagos-Based Nigerian Fraudster After ₦460 Million Trump Inauguration Scam

The FBI has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Ehiremen Aigbokhan, a Nigerian national based in Lagos, accusing him of stealing more than ₦460 million through a cryptocurrency fraud scheme targeting funds meant for U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration.

According to federal filings, Mr Aigbokhan and his accomplices used a Business Email Compromise (BEC) strategy to impersonate official members of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. In one instance, on December 26, 2024, a fraudulent email address—@t47lnaugural.com—was used to mimic the official @t47inaugural.com domain belonging to the committee’s co-chair, Steve Wiktoff. This deception led a donor to send 250,300 USDT.ETH, a cryptocurrency sum currently valued at over ₦400 million on the black market.

The FBI said the scammers quickly began dispersing the funds to multiple crypto wallets. On December 31, 2024, U.S. authorities contacted crypto firm Tether, which voluntarily froze the involved accounts after detecting suspicious activity. A portion of the funds—215 USDT.ETH—had already been disbursed before the freeze was enacted.

Subsequent investigation traced the fraudulent crypto activity to an account on Binance.com registered to Mr Aigbokhan. The account, created in October 2024, had no prior activity until receiving funds from the scam wallet. Further forensic analysis of IP addresses and email logs linked the digital trail back to Lagos, Nigeria.

Court documents revealed that the FBI has already seized 20,017 USDT.ETH from Mr Aigbokhan’s wallet and an additional 20,336 USDT.ETH from a related address. Combined, the assets amount to more than ₦60 million in black market value. Rick Blaylock Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, is now seeking a court order to permanently forfeit the seized funds.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Aigbokhan, who remains at large as U.S. authorities continue to coordinate with international partners to locate and apprehend him.