Seven-Year Manhunt Ends With Arrest In Elderly Americans Fraud Case

Adetunji Abudu, a 34-year-old Nigerian, was apprehended in the US following seven years of evasion due to a purported money-laundering conspiracy involving fraud schemes that targeted senior citizens.

The victims, who were mostly elderly Americans, were allegedly tricked into sending money, which was then routed through businesses and bank accounts in Rhode Island, Idaho, and other places, with a sizable portion of the proceeds going to Nigeria.

According to reports, members of the alleged conspiracy also used the money they made from the schemes to buy cars and ship them abroad.

According to the Department of Justice, Abudu left the country for Nigeria in 2019 following a court-approved search of his North Providence, Rhode Island, home by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Five co-defendants—Dotun Olawale Alonge, Oluwaseyi Akintola, Samson Ikotun, Olabode Shaba, and Oladipupu Shodipu—pleaded guilty before his arrest.

According to the US Department of Justice, Abudu, a Lagos native, was detained on Monday nite, October 26, 2026, at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, while trying to reenter the nation from Istanbul, Turkey.

On October 21, 2026, Abudu appeared before a federal court and was placed under arrest pending trial, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.

In a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Providence, Rhode Island, he is one of six defendants accused of conspiring to launder millions of dollars obtained through fraud schemes run out of Nigeria.

Online romance scams, fraudulent sweepstakes, phony rental listings, and fraudulent online shipping transactions were all allegedly part of the schemes, according to the prosecution.

According to federal prosecutors, the five defendants entered guilty pleas to money-laundering conspiracy and were given prison terms ranging from time served to 42 months.

John P. McAdams, an assistant US attorney, is prosecuting the case.

The FBI, the US Postal Inspection Service, and the police departments in Moscow, Idaho, and Tallmadge, Ohio, are among the investigators.

Abudu is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court, according to the US Attorney’s Office, which emphasized that an indictment is an accusation.

Cases like this are deeply troubling—not only because elderly people, who deserve care and protection, are allegedly targeted, but also because such conduct can cast an unfair shadow over innocent Nigerians seeking opportunities abroad. Those responsible should be held accountable. It is disappointing to see anyone bring disgrace to their country through actions that harm vulnerable people and damage trust.