A Nigerian man, Olamide Shanu, has pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a case involving sextortion and romance-fraud schemes that allegedly generated more than $2.5 million.
Shanu entered the guilty plea on Monday in the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, according to the US Department of Justice.
The case centres on cyber-enabled schemes in which victims were manipulated through fake online identities and then pressured to send money.
In the sextortion operation, the conspirators allegedly posed as women on social media and persuaded male victims to send sexually explicit images of themselves.
After obtaining the images, they allegedly threatened to send them to the victims’ friends and family members unless money was paid.
The group also allegedly operated romance scams targeting men and women, including older victims. According to court documents, the conspirators created fake identities, established deceptive emotional relationships with victims and later requested money by claiming to have urgent financial problems.
The proceeds were allegedly moved through peer-to-peer payment platforms and cryptocurrency wallets before being transferred to other members of the network in Nigeria.
The Justice Department had earlier alleged that Shanu and his co-conspirators obtained at least $2 million through the schemes, while case-related records and research have put the cryptocurrency transactions connected to the operation at more than $2.5 million.
Shanu was arrested in the United Kingdom in November 2023 after a federal indictment was filed in Idaho. He was subsequently extradited to the United States in 2025 to face prosecution.
The indictment charged him with wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit interstate communications with intent to extort and cyberstalking, conspiracy to commit extortion, money laundering conspiracy, extortion, interstate communications with intent to commit extortion and cyberstalking.
The US Secret Service and Boise Police Department investigated the case.
Federal prosecutors described the operation as an international cybercrime scheme that exploited victims through social engineering, extortion and fraudulent relationships.
The Justice Department has also highlighted the use of cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer payment systems in moving proceeds from cyber-enabled fraud schemes across borders.
Shanu’s guilty plea represents a change from the position at the time of his 2025 extradition, when the allegations in the indictment remained unproven in court.
The latest development is expected to move the case towards sentencing. The supplied court update says Shanu is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
The final sentence will be determined by a federal judge after consideration of the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
