US Department of Justice Files Suit to Revoke Citizenship of Nigerian Convicted in $11m Fraud Scheme
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has initiated a legal battle to revoke the naturalized citizenship of Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, a Nigerian national previously jailed for orchestrating a massive $11 million tax fraud scheme.
Kazeem, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018, is now facing the loss of his American status under renewed immigration enforcement policies.
According to a statement obtained by Punch Metro from the DoJ website, Kazeem was the mastermind behind a conspiracy that involved the theft of personal identifying information (PII) of over 259,000 victims.
Investigations revealed he purchased 91,000 identities from a Vietnamese hacker to file over 10,000 fraudulent federal tax returns.
The scheme successfully siphoned $11.6 million, with over $2.1 million wired directly to Nigeria.
The DoJ alleges that Kazeem disqualified himself from lawful naturalization by committing these crimes both before and after obtaining citizenship.
Furthermore, the fresh suit claims Kazeem engaged in a "sham marriage" to secure his permanent resident status.
“The complaint alleges that Kazeem’s fraud scheme... along with the concealment of his crimes, precluded him from obtaining citizenship lawfully,” the DoJ stated.
Despite having his sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden, Kazeem now faces potential deportation as the Donald Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on criminal migrants.
Prosecutors noted that Kazeem used his fraudulent proceeds to fund luxury Maryland real estate and even attempted to develop a $6 million four-star hotel in Lagos.
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