The U.S. Secret Service seized $1.5 million from the Binance wallet of Nigerian serial fraudster Avwerosuo Omokri following numerous complaints from victims.
This has triggered a detailed investigation into the suspect’s activities and bank records.
Special agent Katrina Caulfield uncovered the operations of an internet fraud syndicate, running fraudulent trading investment platforms to lure unsuspecting victims.
She was seeking a forfeiture in rem of the seized funds, documents seen by Peoples Gazette showed.
Victim 1, a resident of Newton in Massachusetts, March 2024, filed an internet crime complaint form to seek help after she fell for a cryptocurrency scam where she lost 1.33272285 BTC.
She told Ms Caulfield that she joined a group on Facebook in February 2024 named ‘Financial Independence Forum’, where members were promised “financial independence and early retirement through reliable investment.”
Victim 1, who was not named, said she soon began to connect with the members of the Facebook group, including Tom Sheldon Haley.
They began to exchange messages on Facebook Messenger.Mr Haley, an administrator of the group, portrayed himself as an investment expert versed in online trading. Their chats became frequent, and she was asked to invest in Trade Propel, an investment platform that promised high returns.
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Mr Haley sent her detailed steps on how to create a new account on Trade Propel.On March 13, 2024, Victim 1 transferred 1.3 BTC from Coinbase to a destination wallet provided by the Facebook group administrator.
After some time, she observed her deposit had increased on the website and tried to withdraw the funds, only to be told by Trade Propel customer support that she must pay “tax on earnings” before initiating withdrawal.
The U.S. Secret Service special agent said the demand for more money for investors to access their funds was typical of many scammers, as they often tried to squeeze every penny out of victims.“
Checks on the Trade Propel website ticked all the fraud boxes as the Secret Service special agent said she could not find any relevant company information, policies and company contact details.
Instead, the website had bios of hedge fund billionaires George Soros, Paul Tudor, and Ray Dialo, claiming that the trio co-signed Trade Propel.
“Also, the website falsely claims to be part of FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation),” wrote the U.S. Secret Service special agent.
Ms Caulfield said the platform owner went to great lengths to make the website look legitimate for the purpose of defrauding people.
A money trail by the Secret Service showed how the syndicate immediately transferred the victim’s 1.3 BTC to an intermediary wallet before sending it to another wallet ending in –HKbIS.
However, the Secret Service special agent was able to bypass all the layering and cover-ups to track the bitcoin to its final destination wallet.
Account records for user ID ending in XXXXX3280 obtained from Binance showed that the wallet was registered to Nigerian passport holder Avwerosuo Omokri with the registered email address johnrichie513@gmail.com.
Coinbase provided information that showed additional victims had paid into the same intermediary wallet of the fraud syndicate. Victim 2 paid $ 29,000, while Victim 3 paid $35,000.
The fourth victim was instructed to pay into a different intermediary wallet.
Further investigations revealed that the Tom Sheldon Haley’s Facebook account was not operated by one person but by a fraud syndicate that often deployed the rank and files to approach victims on social media platforms, including Facebook and LinkedIn.
The higher-level fraudsters were the ones on the wallet backends receiving and trying to cover up illicit money flows. Binance records showed that Mr Omokri’s syndicate used four different devices to access the wallets.
Ms Caulfield, on February 16, 2025, sought a forfeiture in rem of the seized $1.5 million, having established that they were proceeds of wire fraud and money laundering. The seized funds include 7.23918814 BTC1, 105.75351403 ETH2, 636.11899592 AVAX3, 14120.995091 USDT4; 2380467906.17 SHIB and319008151.01 PEPE.
(PeoplesGazette)
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