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The FBI has filed a civil forfeiture complaint and is actively pursuing an arrest warrant for a Lagos-based internet fraudster, Ehiremen Aigbokhan, for allegedly stealing over ₦460 million in funds meant for the 2025 inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to legal documents obtained by Peoples Gazette, Aigbokhan and his associates orchestrated a sophisticated cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering scheme, targeting a donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
How the Scam Unfolded
The scheme was based on a Business Email Compromise (BEC) tactic—where scammers created deceptive email addresses that closely resembled official ones connected to the inauguration. These fake addresses were then used to send fundraising requests to unsuspecting donors.
In one instance, on December 26, 2024, a fraudulent email from @t47lnaugural.com (with a lowercase “L” substituting the “I”) was sent to a donor, impersonating the official email address of Steve Wiktoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee (@t47inaugural.com).
The victim responded by transferring 250,300 USDT.ETH, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar and based on the Ethereum blockchain, to a wallet controlled by the scammers. At the current black market exchange rate, that sum is valued at over ₦400 million.
FBI Intervenes
The stolen funds were swiftly moved. Court filings revealed that 215,000 USDT.ETH was quickly distributed to multiple wallets. But by December 31, just days after the theft, the FBI intervened, requesting stablecoin issuer Tether to freeze the associated accounts. Tether complied voluntarily.
A deep-dive investigation by the FBI traced the funds to a Binance.com account registered to Ehiremen Aigbokhan in Lagos. The Binance account had been opened in October 2024 and had no transaction history until it began receiving funds from the fraudulent wallet.
Digital Footprint Points to Lagos
Further forensic analysis confirmed that the IP addresses used to access the scam email accounts and crypto wallets were traced to Lagos, Nigeria, strengthening the case against Aigbokhan. Investigators concluded that he operated from Nigeria and was directly involved in the scheme.
The FBI seized 20,017 USDT.ETH from Aigbokhan’s personal crypto wallet and an additional 20,336 USDT.ETH from another address linked to the scam (0xC7bdBA7ffB126F68E8454C), totalling over ₦60 million at current rates.
Now, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock Jr., representing the District of Columbia, has asked the court to approve the permanent forfeiture of the recovered funds.
What’s Next
While the FBI has made progress in tracing and freezing stolen assets, Ehiremen Aigbokhan remains at large. U.S. authorities are reportedly exploring extradition possibilities as the international manhunt continues.
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