The FBI has taken Ajibola Oduntan into custody after special agents identified his role in a ticketing scam that resulted in a loss of over $100,000 in ticket sales for the Broadway musical Wicked, between September 2023 and October 2023, for the Kentucky Performing Arts.
Mr Oduntan, 47, who also holds an Irish passport, was facing charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, in Louisville, after allegedly stealing the credit card information of many U.S. citizens to purchase at least 61 Wicked show tickets from KPA.
The UK-based suspect then resold the tickets to unsuspecting Broadway enthusiasts on StubHub, a top U.S. website for live event ticket resellers and buyers.
After a chunk of credit card companies discovered the fraud, they instituted chargebacks for their customers from KPA, resulting in a loss of at least $100,000, given that the money was only deducted after the performances.
KPA reported the incident to the FBI, submitting relevant payment information, including the names, emails, and IP addresses of the credit card holders used.
Despite using VPNs to obfuscate the scam, the FBI followed the money trail and found that the proceeds from ticket resale were deposited into PayPal accounts and subsequently transferred to personal accounts linked to Mr Oduntan.
FBI special agent Daniel W. Heath established numerous transactions between three StubHub accounts and linked PayPal accounts with multiple emails in a manner reminiscent of wire fraud.
Mr Heath found at least four emails attached to a PayPal account ,52254838476591*, which belonged to Mr Oduntan. They are fenandexadex@gmail.com, romanslady001@gmail.com, romanslady00@gmail.com, and samesonbar@gmail.com.
Before the Wicked show run in September, agents discovered transactions worth $350,000 wired from StubHub into PayPal accounts controlled by a Nigerian and a UK citizen. The funds were then transferred to Mr Oduntan’s Revolut account and Allied Irish Bank account in Ireland.
“PayPal records obtained under valid legal process showed that ODUNTAN deposited nearly $350,000 into PayPal from StubHub between January 2023 and July 2024,” stated court filings on August 7.
When Mr Oduntan submitted a U.S. visa application, his phone number matched the same phone number used for the fraudulent ticketing transactions in one of the emails registered to his PayPal account.
The FBI, which typically screens all U.S. visa applications for criminal records, applied to Magistrate Judge Regina S. Edward for an arrest warrant to apprehend Mr Oduntan on U.S. soil.
His warrant was granted and sealed until he landed in the U.S. in late August. Law enforcement agents swiftly arrested him and are currently holding him at the Grayson County Detention Centre after he pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy.
He was charged by a grand jury on September 3, but his trial is scheduled to begin on November 10.
