AG recovers digital wallet from Nigerian scammer to return investment to Kansas consumer

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach says his office successfully recovered an international electronic wallet and will return money to a Kansas victim of a crypto investment scam.

It marked one of the state’s first successful civil actions against an international internet scammer.

A Kansan filed a consumer complaint with the AG’s office that she was promised a large return in exchange for investing in cryptocurrency. Investigators learned that Bimbo Toyin Akinyemi, of Nigeria, defrauded the victim’s cryptocurrency. General Kobach’s Charities and Financial Scams unit filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

Akinyemi failed to respond after being served, but the district court entered an order against Akinyemi for full restitution and assessed penalties. The order allowed the AG’s office to seize Akinyemi’s digital wallet, which contained half of a Bitcoin, valued at more than $28,900 and other digital currency valued at more than $4,000.

“Cryptocurrency is a borderless asset that allows international scammers to target and defraud Kansans from the comfort of a keyboard,” said First Assistant Attorney General Nathanial Castillo. “Scammers realize they have a better chance at getting away with fraud if they convince victims to send cryptocurrency. Kansans should always thoroughly scrutinize anyone they meet online before sending payment in cryptocurrency.”

The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI assisted the attorney general’s office in its investigation.