William Carey track team members scam thousands from rival athletes in Nigerian fraud scheme
Two Hattiesburg track-and-field athletes face up to 10 years in prison after confessing to an international money scam that targeted track-and-field athletes throughout the U.S.
According to court documents, Emmanuel Ineh, 23, and Toluwani Adebakin, 25, pleaded guilty to “engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities, collectively sending tens of thousands of illicitly obtained proceeds to fraudsters in Nigeria as part of a larger mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.”
Ineh and Adebakin conducted some of the crimes at William Carey University while they were teammates on the track team. As part of the complex fraud and money laundering scheme, Ineh and Adebakin transferred thousands of dollars to Nigeria.
Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on February 15, 2023, in Hattiesburg and face a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew W. Eichner is prosecuting the case.
This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 10:56 AM.
