Evergreen Reporter

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Bamidele Omotosho (42, Nigeria) to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and computer intrusion. The court also ordered Omotosho to pay $2,051,108.70 in restitution to victims of his offenses. Omotosho entered a guilty plea on November 2, 2022.

According to court documents, in 2017 and 2018, Omotosho conspired with others to purchase stolen access credentials (i.e., usernames and passwords) and stolen personal identifying information (“PII”) of U.S. citizens, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, on xDedic, a darknet criminal marketplace that has since been seized and shut down. Omotosho and a group of co-conspirators he led then used the stolen credentials and PII to commit at least six different fraudulent schemes totaling over $7.5 million in intended losses and over $2 million in actual losses.

For example, in June 2017, the conspiracy used that stolen information to hack into the Employees Retirement System of Texas (“ERS”) internet portal. Omotosho and his co-conspirators created fraudulent accounts and diverted retirement payments meant for legitimate ERS participants into accounts that the conspiracy controlled.

In 2017 and 2018, Omotosho and his co-conspirators purchased unauthorized access to computer networks for multiple accounting firms around the United States, including in the Western District of Texas (“WDTX”) and the Middle District of Florida (“MDFL”). With that access, they obtained PII for accounting firm clients which they used to file fraudulent tax returns with the IRS.

During this period, Omotosho's group also engaged in identity theft using stolen PII to apply for credit cards; romance fraud swindling vulnerable victims out of their savings; and business email compromise fraud against a pharmaceutical company resulting in a loss of $250,000.

Omotosho's group laundered their proceeds by depositing them onto prepaid debit cards or into accounts at financial institutions opened with stolen PII. In some instances they used their proceeds to purchase used vehicles which were shipped to Nigeria for resale.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Texas Rangers Public Integrity Unit. It is being jointly prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael M. Gordon (MDFL) and Michael C. Galdo (WDTX). The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided vital assistance in securing Omotosho's extradition from the United Kingdom where he was arrested.

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