Nigerian ‘Cybercrime Kingpin’ Admits Guilt in $6M Fraud Case in U.S.

Emmanuel Femi Adedayo Posted on 3 months ago 1 min read

James Junior Aliyu, a 30-year-old Nigerian national residing in South Africa at the time of his criminal conduct, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Aliyu, who was arrested and extradited from South Africa to the United States, is the last of three defendants to plead guilty to his role in a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

Eight other defendants previously pled guilty in the District of Maryland in separate cases related to the same conspiracy.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Acting Special Agent in Charge Evan Campanella, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Baltimore on August 26, 2025.

On June 24, 2019, a federal grand jury returned an indictment, charging Aliyu, Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo, 30, and Henry Onyedikachi Echefu, 31, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

All three are Nigerian citizens who resided in South Africa at the time of the crimes. Federal authorities unsealed the indictment on July 6, 2022, upon the defendants’ arrests outside of the U.S. All three were extradited to the United States from outside the country to face their federal charges.

According to his plea agreement, from February 2017 until at least July 2017, Aliyu conspired with others to perpetrate a BEC scheme. Specifically, Aliyu and his co-conspirators, including co-conspirators residing in Maryland, gained unauthorized access to email accounts associated with individuals and businesses that they targeted.