The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken into custody a Nigerian man, Rotimi Oladimeji, who had previously been convicted of fraud, as part of a broader operation targeting undocumented immigrants across the country.
In a post shared on X on Monday, ICE confirmed that Oladimeji had been ordered to pay over $1.1 million in restitution before his latest arrest.
The agency stated: “Nigerian alien Rotimi Oladimeji’s criminal history includes mail and wire fraud. He was ordered to pay $1.1M+ in restitution before ICE New Orleans arrested him.”
Court records show that Oladimeji was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2023 by a US District Court for his role in a fraudulent scheme. According to the US Department of Justice, he helped scammers in Nigeria defraud a woman who believed she was in an online relationship with a veterinarian based in St. Louis.
The DoJ noted: “In October of 2019, Oladimeji claimed the veterinarian was going to Dubai, then said he wouldn’t be allowed to leave unless she sent money. They continued to request of the victim for four and five-figure sums, court records show.”
The victim eventually lost nearly $1.17 million, prosecutors revealed. “Oladimeji received 20% of the funds he generated. As money mules who transmitted the fraudulent proceeds to people like Oladimeji, Akinrinmade and Adesanya received 20 per cent of the funds they forwarded. The remaining amount went to scammers in Nigeria,” the Justice Department added.
Oladimeji pleaded guilty in 2022, leading to his three-year sentence and a restitution order of $1.1 million. Although he was placed on deportation at the time of conviction, he remained in the United States after serving his jail term.
His recent arrest adds to the growing number of undocumented migrants detained by ICE under directives aimed at clamping down on criminal and illegal immigration.
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