The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a Nigerian national, Rotimi Oladimeji, who was previously convicted of fraud, as part of an ongoing operation targeting illegal migrants across the country.
ICE, in a statement posted on its official X handle on Monday, disclosed that Oladimeji had been ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution before his arrest in New Orleans.
The agency said: “Nigerian criminal 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.”
Oladimeji was sentenced to three years in prison by a US District Court in December 2023 after pleading guilty to wire and mail fraud charges.According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Oladimeji conspired with other scammers in Nigeria to defraud a woman who believed she was in an online romance with a veterinarian and animal behaviourist in St. Louis.
Court documents revealed that in October 2019, Oladimeji falsely claimed the supposed veterinarian was travelling to Dubai but could not leave without financial assistance. The scammers then continued to demand large sums from the victim, who eventually lost nearly $1.17 million.
Investigators said Oladimeji personally received 20 per cent of the fraudulent proceeds, while his accomplices, identified as Akinrinmade and Adesanya, also took a 20 per cent cut. The remaining funds were routed to other co-conspirators in Nigeria.
Following his guilty plea in 2022, Oladimeji was sentenced and ordered to pay restitution of over $1.1 million. He was also placed on a deportation order but had remained in the United States after serving his sentence.
His arrest forms part of a wider immigration enforcement drive that has seen thousands of illegal migrants detained by ICE in recent months.
