Two men originally from Nigeria were sentenced to prison in Charlotte, North Carolina, for laundering millions of dollars obtained through fraudulent schemes. The announcement was made by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, alongside James C. Barnacle, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina.
Olumide Olorunfunmi, 40, and Emmanuel Unuigbe, 43, each received a sentence of 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Both men were also ordered to pay more than $4.6 million in restitution.
According to court documents and proceedings, between 2020 and 2023 Olorunfunmi conspired with Unuigbe and others to launder proceeds from illegal activities such as romance scams—often targeting elderly victims—and business email compromise schemes. Victims were instructed to transfer funds into domestic and international bank accounts controlled by the conspirators. After receiving these funds, Olorunfunmi, Unuigbe, and their associates moved the money through various accounts both within the United States and abroad. The scheme resulted in over 125 victims transferring more than $4.5 million derived from illegal activities.
The two men kept a portion of the criminal proceeds for themselves and further profited by using a “black market” exchange rate to transfer Nigerian Naira from accounts they controlled in Nigeria to other Nigerian accounts as payment for domestic deposits.
Olorunfunmi and Unuigbe previously pleaded guilty to their charges. Another individual involved in related activity, Samson Amos, was sentenced on the same day for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Amos received five years of probation with six months of home confinement and was also ordered to pay restitution.
“In making today’s announcement,” said U.S. Attorney Ferguson, “U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the FBI for the investigation of the case.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Ryan prosecuted the case out of Charlotte.
