U.S. Secret Service Seizes $1.5 Million from Nigerian Fraudster’s Binance Account

The U.S. Secret Service has seized $1.5 million in cryptocurrency from the Binance wallet of Nigerian fraudster Avwerosuo Omokri, following an investigation into a sophisticated internet scam that defrauded multiple victims. The funds, traced back to wire fraud and money laundering activities, were identified as proceeds from fraudulent trading investment platforms.

According to documents published by Peoples Gazette, Special Agent Katrina Caulfield led the investigation that uncovered a syndicate running fake investment platforms to lure unsuspecting investors. The scheme came to light after a Massachusetts resident, identified as Victim 1, filed a complaint in March 2024 after losing 1.33272285 BTC to a cryptocurrency scam.

Victim 1 had joined a Facebook group named “Financial Independence Forum,” where members were promised financial freedom through investments. She began communicating with a group administrator named Tom Sheldon Haley, who posed as an online trading expert. Under his guidance, she was persuaded to invest in “Trade Propel,” a fraudulent investment platform.

Following her initial deposit of 1.3 BTC from Coinbase to the platform’s designated wallet, Victim 1 saw her balance increase on the website. However, when she attempted to withdraw her funds, she was told she needed to pay a “tax on earnings” before accessing her money. According to Special Agent Caulfield, this is a common tactic used by scammers to extract additional funds from victims.

Further investigation into the Trade Propel website revealed multiple red flags, including a lack of verifiable company information and misleading claims of endorsements by hedge fund billionaires George Soros, Paul Tudor, and Ray Dalio. The site also falsely claimed to be affiliated with FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation).

Blockchain analysis conducted by the Secret Service showed that Victim 1’s Bitcoin was immediately transferred to an intermediary wallet before being moved to another wallet ending in –HKbIS. Such wallets are commonly used by fraud syndicates to obscure the flow of illicit funds and evade detection.

Despite these efforts to cover their tracks, investigators successfully traced the funds to a Binance wallet registered to Omokri, a Nigerian passport holder using the email address johnrichie513@gmail.com. Coinbase records further confirmed that additional victims had made payments to the same intermediary wallet. Victim 2 lost $29,000, while Victim 3 lost $35,000. Another victim was directed to send money to a different wallet.

The investigation also revealed that the Facebook account of “Tom Sheldon Haley” was operated by multiple individuals within the fraud syndicate. Lower-level scammers were responsible for engaging with victims on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, while higher-level operatives handled the fraudulent wallet transactions. Binance records indicated that Omokri’s syndicate accessed the wallet using four different devices.

On February 16, 2025, Special Agent Caulfield formally sought forfeiture of the seized $1.5 million after confirming its ties to wire fraud and money laundering. The confiscated assets included 7.23918814 BTC, 105.75351403 ETH, 636.11899592 AVAX, 14,120.995091 USDT, 2,380,467,906.17 SHIB, and 319,008,151.01 PEPE.