The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Lagos-based fraudster, Ehiremen Aigbokhan, over his role in a sophisticated cryptocurrency fraud that diverted over ₦460 million intended for President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration.

Court documents obtained by GistReports.com reveal that the FBI is also actively seeking Mr Aigbokhan’s arrest in connection with the scheme, which involved Business Email Compromise (BEC), cryptocurrency laundering, and impersonation of high-profile event organizers tied to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

According to the filings, the scam unfolded in the final weeks of 2024, as Aigbokhan and his unidentified co-conspirators created fake email addresses mimicking the official communication lines of the inauguration committee. A crucial example was a deceptive email sent on December 26, 2024, from \"@t47lnaugural.com\" — closely resembling the legitimate \"@t47inaugural.com\" address used by committee co-chair Steve Wiktoff.

A donor, believing the email to be legitimate, wired 250,300 USDT.ETH (a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar via Ethereum blockchain), equivalent to more than ₦400 million at the current black market rate, to the fraudsters.

Within days, the criminals had begun dispersing 215,000 USDT.ETH to several untraceable crypto wallets. However, by December 31, crypto firm Tether, at the request of the FBI, froze the suspicious accounts, preventing further movement of funds.

Investigators soon traced the fraudulent transactions to a Binance account created by Mr Aigbokhan in October 2024. Prior to receiving the stolen assets, the account had no deposit history, confirming it was established specifically to launder proceeds of the fraud.

Digital forensics revealed further damning evidence: all logins and email activities tied to the fraud originated from Lagos, Nigeria, using IP addresses consistently linked to Mr Aigbokhan. The FBI successfully seized over 40,000 USDT.ETH — over ₦60 million in total — from wallets tied to the suspect, including a Binance account and a crypto address “0xC7bdBA7ffB126F68E8454C”.

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Rick Blaylock Jr, is now asking a U.S. court to officially forfeit the seized assets, labeling them as proceeds of wire fraud and money laundering.

The development has sent shockwaves across the digital currency and cybercrime watchdog communities in Nigeria, with authorities under pressure to assist in apprehending Mr Aigbokhan and strengthening international cooperation on cybercrime.

As of press time, the suspect remains at large.

Stay with GistReports.com for updates on this developing story.