A 39-year-old Bronx man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in a criminal enterprise that defrauded individuals and businesses across the U.S. out of millions of dollars, federal prosecutors announced on Monday. They said Bashiru Ganiyu was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to receive stolen money, and receipt of stolen money in April following a jury trial.

 

Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Ganiyu was sentenced on Monday, Nov. 18, by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, saying, “The defendant participated in a criminal enterprise that preyed on elderly people and other unsuspecting victims, deceiving them into sending millions of dollars in romance scams and other schemes.”

 

Williams added, “The defendant’s conduct devastated victims around the country, including many who were looking for companionship.  Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for his conduct.”

 

As reflected in the indictment, court filings, and the evidence presented at trial, from in or about 2020 through in or about 2022, a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”), based in Ghana, committed a series of romance scams and business email compromises against people located across the U.S., including in the Southern District of New York.

 

Prosecutors said the Enterprise conducted the romance scams by using electronic messages sent via email, text messaging, or online dating websites that deluded victims, many of whom, they said, were vulnerable older men and women who lived alone, into believing the victim was in a romantic relationship with a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.

 

The court heard that once members of the Enterprise had gained the trust of the victims using the fake identity, they used false pretenses to cause the victims to wire money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when in fact the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise like Ganiyu.

 

Prosecutors said the Enterprise also used business email compromises to trick individuals and businesses to send funds that the victims believed were being sent to legitimate business counterparties but were actually sent to accounts controlled by members of the Enterprise.

 

They said Ganiyu received money sent by more than 40 victims of the Enterprise under false pretenses into ten bank accounts held in the name of his purported business located in The Bronx. They said after receiving nearly $12 million in stolen funds, Ganiyu laundered these criminal proceeds to other members of the Enterprise or abroad at the direction of his co-conspirators.

 

In addition to the prison term, prosecutors said Ganiyu was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $11,744,115.07, and pay restitution in the amount of $7,675,785.32.

 

Williams said the case is being handled by the U.S. Southern District of New York’s complex frauds and cybercrime unit. He said Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Kudla and Matthew Weinberg lead the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Lucy Gavin.

 

Williams, who is overseeing the federal investigation into New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign finances, and who President-elect Donald Trump announced on Nov. 14 would be replaced as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York by Jay Clayton as part of the incoming Trump administration, praised what he described as the outstanding investigative work of the FBI with regard to the Ganiyu case. Williams has since announced he will be stepping down from the department before Trump is inaugurated in January 2025.

Adams pleaded not guilty on Sept. 27 to charges of bribery, including from foreign business people and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him. On Oct. 1, the mayor sought [unsuccessfully] sanctions on the same federal prosecutors who charged him, alleging they leaked grand jury material and other sensitive information in “brazen violations” of the rules.

 

Meanwhile, Trump said in part that Clayton, his appointee and chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term in office, was “a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant.” According to Trump, Clayton received engineering and law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and an economics degree from the University of Cambridge.

 

He said before chairing the SEC, Clayton was a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, and served on the management committee. He said he is currently a senior policy advisor to Sullivan & Cromwell, a board member of several public and private companies, and an adjunct professor at the Wharton Business School, and the Carey Law School at the University of Pennsylvania. Trump added, “Jay is going to be a strong Fighter for the Truth as we, Make America Great Again.”

 

On Tuesday, Nov. 26, Williams, who has served as the chief federal law enforcement officer in the district, announced his intention to resign his position as U.S. attorney, effective 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 13. Edward Y. Kim, who currently serves as deputy U.S. attorney, will become the acting U.S. Attorney upon his departure.

 

“Today is a bittersweet day for me, as I announce my resignation as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Williams said. “It is bitter in the sense that I am leaving my dream job, leading an institution I love that is filled with the finest public servants in the world. It is sweet in that I am confident I am leaving at a time when the Office is functioning at an incredibly high level – upholding and exceeding its already high standard of excellence, integrity, and independence. That success is due to the career attorneys, staff members, and law enforcement agents of this Office.”

 

He added, “Working with them during my tenure has been a privilege of a lifetime. They are worthy custodians of this Office’s tradition of doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. They are patriots. They are my family, and I will miss them dearly. I thank President Biden for nominating me as United States Attorney, and Attorney General Garland for leading the Department and supporting the Southern District of New York during my tenure.  It has been an honor to serve the American people.”