United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Andrew Strauss, has announced that Yusuf Owolabi Abdul, also known as Saheed Sador, a Nigerian and a resident of Canada, had been extradited from Germany.
A statement by Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York forwarded to Prowling Eagles, revealed that Abdul was charged with involvement in a fraud scheme since around 2013 to April 2019 involving theft and laundering of funds of victim.
Abdul was apprehended in Germany on December 11, 2020, on an Interpol Red Notice, and he happens to be the fifth defendant charged as far as this case is concerned.
He will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang and his case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.
While commenting, U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, said: “As alleged, Yusuf Owolabi Abdul and his codefendants used a widely available telephone ‘spoofing’ service and other deceitful means to steal and conceal millions of dollars in victim funds. Thanks to the FBI and international cooperation, Abdul is in U.S. custody and facing charges in this District.”
According to the indictment’s allegations, “From at least 2013 through 2018, ABDUL and various other conspirators, situated in countries like the United States, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates (collectively, the “Conspirators”), were involved in a scheme to fraudulently access individuals’ and corporations’ bank accounts and to conduct financial transactions using those bank accounts without the knowledge or authority of the accounts’ legitimate owners (the “Bank Scheme”).
“As part of the Bank Scheme, the Conspirators placed thousands of calls to various United States banks, holding themselves out as legitimate accountholders of particular targeted bank accounts and using the stolen personal identifying information belonging to those accountholders.
“Using a particular telephone number “spoofing” service, and voice-altering technology, the Conspirators would deceive bank representatives into believing that the Conspirators were actual accountholders.
“In so doing, they convinced multiple U.S. banks to, among other things: move money from a victim’s savings account to the victim’s checking account (so that the Conspirators could more easily access the funds and conduct unauthorized transactions); falsely note on the account that the accountholder was traveling abroad (making the bank less likely to void suspicious international transactions made by the Conspirators); have “replacement” credit cards mailed to international addresses controlled by the Conspirators (whereupon the Conspirators could use them to make unauthorized purchases); and authorize foreign purchases made by the Conspirators.”
Abdul, a 45-year-old Nigerian and a resident of Canada, is facing one count charge of conspiracy to perpetrate bank and wire fraud, which attracts a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which attracts a maximum of 20 years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which attracts a compulsory sentence of two years in prison, which will be served consecutively to the other charges.
The maximum likely sentences in this case will be prescribed by Congress and are only provided here for informational purposes, as any sentencing of Abdul will be determined by the judge.
