Follow Us on Google
A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian living in Houston, Texas, Edikan Adiakpan, to two years and six months in federal prison for laundering proceeds from an online fraud scheme.
Adiakpan, 35, was sentenced on Thursday by US District Judge Andrew Hanen, who also ordered that he serve three years of supervised release after completing his jail term.
This was disclosed in a statement on October 8, 2026, by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
According to the statement, Adiakpan had pleaded guilty on May 12.
At sentencing, the court heard that between 2020 and 2022, he used a company under his control, “Akama Lifestyle”, which he advertised as a luxury car service, to move illicit funds for fraudsters and kept a percentage as commission.
The funds were proceeds of a business email compromise (BEC) scam that targeted over 10 victims in the US.
Investigators said the fraudsters sent spoofed emails that appeared to come from legitimate suppliers and creditors, tricking companies into wiring payments into accounts controlled by the syndicate instead of their actual vendors.
One of the victims, a small utility trailer company in Mississippi, was deceived into wiring $927,080 meant for its trailer supplier to the Houston fraud ring.
The company detailed the impact of the loss in a victim impact statement read at Adiakpan’s sentencing.
The US authorities said Adiakpan deposited and cashed several cashier’s checks made out to himself and his exotic car company, containing $359,000 of the victim’s money.
At the time of his arrest, Adiakpan, who is Nigerian, had temporary legal status in the US.
The statement added that another Nigerian, Ayobami Omoniyi, 27, had earlier been sentenced on March 24 to 32 months in federal prison for his role in the same scheme.
The case was investigated by the FBI Houston Division, its Bryan Resident Agency, and the IRS Criminal Investigation unit, and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Belinda Beek.
