The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has initiated legal action to seize assets from Lagos-based individual Ehiremen Aigbokhan, accusing him of orchestrating a sophisticated scheme that defrauded over N460 million intended for U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 inaugural committee.
In a civil forfeiture complaint, the FBI detailed how Aigbokhan and his alleged co-conspirators utilized a Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud and money laundering operation to divert funds from a donor aiming to contribute to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
According to court documents, the fraudsters created deceptive email addresses mirroring official ones used for the inaugural ceremony. These fake emails were sent to numerous individuals in the weeks leading up to the January 20, 2025, inauguration, soliciting donations for the event.
On December 26, 2024, a specific fraudulent email, appearing as “@t47lnaugural.com” (a subtle alteration of the legitimate “@t47inaugural.com” of Steve Wiktoff, co-chair of the committee), was sent to a victim. This led to the transfer of 250,300 USDT.ETH, estimated to be worth over N400 million at current black market rates, to the criminals’ cryptocurrency accounts.
The FBI’s investigation, launched swiftly after the scam was detected, revealed that a significant portion of the stolen funds – 215,000 USDT.ETH – was quickly disbursed to various crypto wallets. However, the agency was able to intervene, requesting crypto operator Tether to freeze the accounts on December 31, a request to which the company complied.
Digital forensics and IP address data traced the fraudulent email activities and cryptocurrency transactions back to Lagos, Nigeria, establishing a direct link to Mr. Aigbokhan. Further investigations showed that a portion of the stolen funds was transferred to a Binance.com account registered under Aigbokhan’s name, an account reportedly created in October 2024 with no prior deposits.
The FBI has successfully seized 20,017 USDT.ETH from Aigbokhan’s wallet and an additional 20,336 USDT.ETH from another associated address, totaling over N60 million. Rick Blaylock Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, is now seeking court forfeiture of these seized assets. The FBI is also actively pursuing an arrest warrant for Aigbokhan in connection with the elaborate fraud.
