FBI trails Nigerian for defrauding U.S. President Donald Trump of 2025 inauguration funds
A Nigerian national, posing as Steve Witkoff, allegedly impersonated a Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee member and scammed a crypto donor out of over 250,000 USDT.ETH is using a lookalike email address.
According to a DOJ statement obtained by Nigerian Sketch, the scammer posed as the co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, Steve Witkoff, and sent an email to the victim on December 24, 2024, from “@t47Inaugural.com”, replacing the lowercase “i” in the legitimate email “@t47inaugural.com”.
The victim was convinced the email was legitimate and transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH to an address controlled by the scammer on December 26, 2024. USDT.ETH is a dollar-pegged stablecoin that is issued on the Ethereum blockchain.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has now filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize property belonging to a 28-year-old Lagos-based fraudster Ehiremen Aigbokhan for the alleged fraud.
The FBI is also actively pursuing an arrest warrant for Aigbokhan in connection with a cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering scheme that targeted a donor intending to contribute to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
In the weeks leading up to the inauguration on January 20, 2025, the FBI reported that fraudsters created several fake email addresses to mimic the legitimate ones used for the ceremony, which they sent to dozens of people, requesting donations for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
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On December 26, 2024, one of these fake emails, with the address @t47lnaugural.com, was sent to a victim to mimic @t47inaugural.com, the official email of the co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, Steve Wiktoff.
The victim subsequently sent 250,300 USDT.ETH to the criminals. The 250,300 USDT.ETH is estimated to be worth over ₦400 million at the current black-market rate.
Within days of receiving the money, the perpetrators immediately disbursed 215,000 USDT.ETH to several crypto wallets before the FBI caught wind of the scam and requested crypto operator Tether to freeze the accounts, which the company voluntarily adhered to on December 31, court documents showed.
Following the scam, the FBI immediately launched an investigation into the matter, and records of the crypto address associated with the scheme were traced back to Aigbokhan in Lagos.
Investigations by the FBI revealed that part of the stolen funds were transferred to a Binance.com account registered to Aigbokhan, who created the account in October 2024. The Binance account had no prior deposits before receiving transfers from the scam wallet.
Further digital forensics linked the fraudulent email accounts and cryptocurrency transactions to Nigeria, with IP address data consistently tracing logins and email activity to Lagos, corroborating the connection to Aigbokhan.
The agency said 20,017 USDT.ETH was seized from Aigbokhan’s wallet, and another 20,336 USDT.ETH from 0xC7bdBA7ffB126F68E8454C, totalling over N60 million in black market rate, and Rick Blaylock Jr, the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, is asking the court to declare its forfeiture.
U.S. Department of Justice’s Press Release
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced on Wednesday that her office filed a complaint against 40,353 USDT.ETH cryptocurrency stolen in the commission of a Business Email Compromise Scheme.
According to the complaint, one or more perpetrators impersonated the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, fraudulently stole $250,300 worth of crypocurrency from an intended donor, and then laundered the funds through other wallets. The FBI was able to trace and recover $40,300 from this transaction. The complaint seeks recovery of these funds to compensate the victim.
“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient. It can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to recoup lost funds due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain,” said U.S. Attoney Pirro. “Nevertheless, my office and our law enforcement partners stand ready to go toe-to-toe with criminals and make victims whole.”
“Impersonation scams take many forms and cost Americans billions in losses each year,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen, of the FBI Washington Field Office, which is investigating the case. “To avoid becoming a victim, carefully review email addresses, website URLs, and spelling in any messages you receive. Scammers often use subtle differences to deceive you and gain your trust. Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know personally or have only interacted with online or over the phone. Report suspected scams to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.”
According to the complaint, on Dec. 24, 2024, the victims received an email from someone purporting to be Steve Witkoff, Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. Legitimate emails from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee are @t47inaugural.com; the email received by victim was from @t47lnaugural.com with the lowercase “I” was replaced by a lowercase “L.” Depending on the font, the lowercase “L” can look like the uppercase “I.”
The imposter Steve Witkoff, a scammer located in Nigeria, instructed the victims to deposit funds into a cryptocurrency wallet ending in 58c52. On Dec. 26, 2024, the victim sent 250,300 USDT.ETH to the crypto wallet believing the funds were going to the Inaugural Committee. Within two hours after receiving the funds from the victim, the funds moved from the 58c52 cryptowallet to other cryptocurrency addresses. Through blockchain analysis, the FBI identified and recovered 40,300 USDT.ETH, which is the property subject to forfeiture in this civil action.
Members of the public who believe they are victims of a cybercrime – including business email compromise, cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, investment scams, and “pig butchering” fraud scams – should contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://www.ic3.gov. For more information on business email compromise schemes, please visit: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/business-email-compromise.
