The FBI has initiated civil forfeiture proceedings to confiscate property owned by Lagos-based scammer Ehiremen Aigbokhan, who allegedly stole over $300,000 intended for former President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration. Authorities are also seeking an arrest warrant for Aigbokhan in connection with a cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering operation targeting a donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

Court documents reviewed by Peoples Gazette reveal that Aigbokhan and his accomplices executed an elaborate scam using a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme, duping victims into transferring funds to their crypto accounts.

In the weeks before the January 20, 2025, inauguration, fraudsters created deceptive email addresses resembling official ones linked to the event. These fake accounts were used to solicit donations from unsuspecting individuals. On December 26, 2024, a victim received an email from "@t47lnaugural.com"—a near-identical imitation of the legitimate "@t47inaugural.com" address belonging to Steve Wiktoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. The victim then sent 250,300 USDT.ETH (worth over ₦400 million on the black market) to the criminals.

Shortly after receiving the funds, the fraudsters distributed 215,000 USDT.ETH across multiple crypto wallets. However, the FBI intervened, prompting Tether to freeze the accounts on December 31.

Investigations traced the scam’s crypto addresses and digital footprints back to Aigbokhan in Lagos, with IP logs confirming email and transaction activity originating from Nigeria.

So far, the FBI has seized 20,017 USDT.ETH from Aigbokhan’s wallet and an additional 20,336 USDT.ETH from another account (0xC7bdBA7ffB126F68E8454C), totaling over ₦60 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock Jr. has requested court approval to permanently forfeit these assets.