The United States Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida has announced the extradition of four Nigerians for their roles in transnational fraud.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) statement revealed that Akinola Taylor, Olayemi Adafin, Olakunle Oyebanjo and Kazeem Olanrewaju Runsewe were extradited on Thursday.

The authorities arrested Taylor, Adafin, Oyebanjo and Runsewe between November 30 and December 2, 2022.

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“United States Attorney Roger Handberg announces the successful extraditions of Akinola Taylor of the United Kingdom, Olayemi Adafin of the United Kingdom, Olakunle Oyebanjo of the United Kingdom, and Kazeem Olanrewaju Runsewe of Sweden. These individuals have been charged in the Middle District of Florida with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, filing false claims with the United States, theft of public money or property, and aggravated identity theft,” the DOJ stated on Thursday.

“Taylor, Adafin, and Runsewe were arrested on November 30, 2022, and Oyebanjo was arrested on December 2, 2022. Taylor, Adafin and Oyebanjo were apprehended in London, United Kingdom, at the request of the United States, and Runsewe was apprehended in Malmo, Sweden, at the request of the United States.

“In connection with the arrests, foreign authorities conducted searches of the residences of Taylor and Runsewe. These individuals first appeared in the Middle District of Florida in May and June 2023. Another related defendant, Ogunlana Oluwarotimi of Texas, was arrested in Texas in January 2023 and is currently pending trial.”

The DOJ stated that Taylor, Adafin, Oyebanjo and Runsewe could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracies. They could also face additional penalties for the remaining criminal counts if convicted.

According to their indictments, Taylor and Runsewe gained unauthorized access to businesses’ computer servers, stole the personally identifying information (PII) of US residents from those servers and used the information to file false and fraudulent IRS Form 1040 and US Individual Income Tax Returns (“Form(s) 1040”) seeking income tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

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“Adafin, Oyebanjo, Ogunlana, and others assisted in the collection of fraud proceeds directed to prepaid debit cards in their possession or to addresses or bank accounts they controlled or to which they had access and transferred a share of the fraud proceeds to other conspirators.

“One of the places that Taylor and Runsewe had obtained unauthorized access to computer servers was the xDedic Marketplace, a website that operated for years and was used to sell access to compromised computers worldwide and the PII of U.S. residents. The xDedic administrators strategically maintained servers all over the world to facilitate the operation of the website.

“The xDedic Marketplace was taken down as part of coordinated, global enforcement operations led by the FBI Tampa Division, the IRS-CI Tampa Field Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.”

Though the suspects were all recognised as Nigerian nationals, the DOJ indicated that Adafin was a citizen of the United Kingdom immediately after his arrest in December 2022.