Cyberspace might seem anonymous, and you might feel empowered by the distance it provides between you and other people, but it’s important to remember that cybercrimes are still prosecuted every day. The United States isn’t shy about extraditing individuals from other countries that they feel are committing crimes online.

In one recent case that highlights this, 37-year-old Abiola Kayode was extradited from Ghana after U.S. investigators determined that he was sending fake emails to United States businesses claiming to be a peer business executive.

Then, he’d instruct the person to wire money to specific accounts. These accounts were reportedly owned by various co-conspirators who had fallen victim to the suspect’s romance scams. After getting these victims to feel emotionally attached to him, Kayode would get the business victims to transfer money to the romance victims’ accounts. From there, Kayode would tell his romance victims to move the money elsewhere. Kayode would ask some of his co-conspirators to actually pretend to be business executives or employees to help pull off the schemes.

Eventually, after getting moved around, the money would fall into Kayode’s control. Kayode’s scams were successful for a while, eventually landing him on the FBI’s Most Wanted Cyber Criminal List. Over time, he defrauded businesses out of more than $6 million. After several of the co-conspirators were arrested, convicted, and sentenced, the FBI was finally able to track down Kayode and have him extradited to the States. Now, he will face serious wire fraud charges.

According to reports, the suspect’s co-conspirators received sentences that ranged from 49-96 months in prison. Between all the culprits, courts are expected to collect millions in restitution. Other individuals involved in this scheme have yet to be caught, but authorities are working diligently to ensure cyber justice is served.

International Internet Crimes

Just as cyberspace has no borders, some online criminal activities span across multiple countries and jurisdictions. Justice, however, cannot be contained, so when a crime is committed in cyberspace, there is typically a law enforcement agency that will pursue the offender.

That said, if you get accused of committing an online crime, then it’s possible for another country to seek your extradition. Extradition is the process of one law enforcement agency handing over custody of an alleged offender to another agency in a different country. Most countries across the globe have extradition treaties with one another, meaning that if one country suspects that a person has committed a crime, then the other country will (in most cases) willingly submit that person to the other country to face trial.

There are a few ways to stop an extradition, though, so if you’re facing this type of situation, then it’s important to hire an attorney who can help.

Schedule a free and confidential phone call with our team of international lawyers now by leaving your contact details on our online form. If you’d prefer, then you can also give us a call directly at +1 (212) 729-1632.