A business email compromise ring that stole $19.6 million from 231 homebuyers
Babatunde Francis Ayeni, a 33-year-old Nigerian national living in the UK, was sentenced in the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to 10 years in federal prison for running a business email compromise ring that targeted title companies, real estate agents and attorneys across the United States. More than 400 people were affected and 231 of them could not stop their wires in time, losing a combined $19,599,969; two co-conspirators remain at large.
- Year
- 2024
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $19.6 million
- Victims
- 231
- Schemes
- Real estate closing wire fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-30
The facts, as recorded
- Ayeni and co-conspirators sent phishing emails containing malicious attachments or links to title companies, real estate agents and real estate attorneys, stealing employees' email login credentials.
- Using the stolen credentials, they monitored compromised mailboxes for transactions where a buyer was scheduled to make a payment, then emailed the buyer from the compromised account with new wiring instructions directing funds to accounts they controlled.
- More than 400 people across the United States were affected; 231 of them could not reverse their wire transfers in time and lost their entire transaction amount, a combined $19,599,969.
- A title company in Gulf Shores, Alabama was among the businesses whose email credentials were compromised.
- Ayeni was arrested in the United Kingdom and extradited to the United States; in April 2024 he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted his role in the wider scheme as well as two specific Alabama incidents.
- US District Judge Terry Moorer sentenced him on November 7, 2024 to 10 years in federal prison, an above-guidelines sentence, and ordered restitution of $19,599,969, waiving interest because Ayeni lacked the ability to pay it.
- Two co-conspirators, Feyisayo Oyindola Oginsanwo and Yusuf Olasunkanmi Lasisi, remain at large outside the United States and were also ordered to pay restitution.
- Ayeni appealed the above-guidelines sentence as unreasonable; the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed it on September 30, 2025, finding the district court's explanation sufficiently compelling given the scheme's scale and the far-reaching, foreseeable harm to victims.
Why this case matters
This is the largest documented loss figure on this page, and the only one with a confirmed victim count: 231 people, out of more than 400 affected overall, could not stop their wires before the money was gone. It is a direct illustration of why speed, not eventual prosecution, is the only real defence once a fraudulent wire is sent.
An above-guidelines sentence, upheld
Ayeni’s 10-year sentence exceeded the federal guidelines range for his offence. He appealed, arguing it was unreasonable; the Eleventh Circuit disagreed, pointing to the scheme’s scale and its far-reaching, foreseeable consequences for victims as sufficient justification for the court going above the guidelines.
Restitution ordered, collection uncertain
The court ordered $19,599,969 in restitution but waived interest on it after finding Ayeni lacked the ability to pay. That gap, between a court-ordered number and what victims can realistically expect to recover, recurs across almost every case in this scheme.
The caveat
Two named co-conspirators, Feyisayo Oyindola Oginsanwo and Yusuf Olasunkanmi Lasisi, have been ordered to pay restitution alongside Ayeni but remain at large outside the United States; nothing in this case file states they have been convicted of anything, only that restitution was ordered against them in Ayeni’s case. Only Ayeni’s own guilty plea and sentence, and its affirmance on appeal, are settled facts here.
Sources
- Nigerian national gets 10-year federal prison term for cyber fraud scheme. Fox10 (WALA-TV, Mobile, Alabama). Accessed 2026-10-30. Supports: The defendant's age, nationality, residence, plea, sentence, court, judge, scheme mechanism, victim and loss figures, and the names of the two at-large co-conspirators.
- Fraudsters hijack closings: $19M scam exposes mortgage industry's cyber weakness. Mortgage Professional America. Accessed 2026-10-30. Supports: The scheme mechanism, the guilty plea date, and confirmation of the Eleventh Circuit's affirmance of the sentence on appeal.
- U.S. Court Sentences Tunde Ayeni to 10 Years for Internet Fraud, With $20 Million Restitution to Victims. Peoples Gazette. Accessed 2026-10-30. Supports: The exact restitution figure, the court's waiver of interest due to inability to pay, and the co-conspirators' names.
- Fraudster's 10-Year Sentence for Scam Hitting Home Buyers Holds. Bloomberg Law. Accessed 2026-10-30. Supports: The Eleventh Circuit's per curiam ruling date and its reasoning for upholding the above-guidelines sentence.