Wanted Nigerian fugitive charged in fraud scheme arrested at U.S airport after seven years on the run

A 34-year-old Nigerian national, Adetunji Abudu, charged in a fraud scheme has been arrested in the United States after seven years on the run.

The United States Department of Justice announced this in a statement on Monday, October 26, 2026. 

According to the statement, Abudu was arrested last Monday night at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, as he attempted to re-enter the United States from Istanbul, Turkey. 

Abudu appeared on October 21. 2026, in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island and was ordered detained pending trial.

Abudu is one of six defendants charged in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Providence, alleging that the individuals laundered millions of dollars obtained through a series of fraud schemes operated from Nigeria that primarily targeted elderly U.S. residents. 

According to the indictment, victims were allegedly deceived through online romance scams, fraudulent sweepstakes schemes, false rental listings, and sham online shipping transactions. 

Funds collected from victims were allegedly funneled through bank accounts and businesses in Rhode Island, Idaho, and elsewhere, with significant proceeds ultimately sent to Nigeria.

Members of the conspiracy also allegedly purchased vehicles with illicit proceeds that were shipped overseas.

Abudu fled the United States to Nigeria in 2019 after the FBI executed a court authorized search of his residence in North Providence. 

Five of Abudu’s co-defendants, Dotun Olawale Alonge, Oluwaseyi Akintol, Samson Ikotun, Olabode Shaba, and Oladipup Shodipu subsequently plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and received sentences ranging from time served to 42 months imprisonment. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Tallmadge (Ohio) and Moscow (Idaho) Police Departments.