FBI Arrests Another Top Politician Over Fraud.... He Has Been Sentenced...

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]The FBI have arrested another top politician over fraud and things are really getting messy. In fact, the politician has already pleaded guilty to the offense, which is ongoing. It seems the FBI is aware that African politicians are mostly perpetrators of fraud and so they have tightened their belt in arresting them. The newly arrested politician is Adepoju Babatunde Salako, who has already been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to wire fraud connected to a 2022 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Fraud Scheme. He was based in Pennsylvania, United States.

[00:00:36]According to court documents, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, 33, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, devised a scheme between January and February 2022 to defraud the Alaska Department of Revenue PFD program. Prosecutors said Salako fraudulently obtained the personal identifying information of legitimate Alaska residents and submitted seven separate PFD applications in an attempt to obtain their dividend funds.

[00:01:06]Authorities stated Salako had never been an Alaska resident and had never traveled to Alaska until arriving for sentencing. Court records stated Salako created new email accounts under his control for each victim whose personal information he obtained.

[00:01:20]Using that information, prosecutors said he gained control of at least seven existing MyAlaska online accounts, which residents used to apply for PFD payments.

[00:01:31]Once inside the accounts, he allegedly changed communication details so messages from MyAlaska were redirected to email accounts he controlled. He also changed banking information so the PFD payments would be routed into bank accounts under his control. Authorities further explained that Salako allegedly attempted to hide his identity and location by using a virtual private network VPN to make six of the seven fraudulent applications appear as though they originated from Alaska IP addresses.

[00:02:01]One application was reportedly submitted using a Philadelphia IP address and records from Salako's personal email account showed logins connected to that same Philadelphia address.

[00:02:12]The state of Alaska eventually identified the applications as fraudulent and denied them.

[00:02:17]In 2022, eligible PFD recipients were entitled to receive $3,284 each.

[00:02:26]Prosecutors said that if the fraud had succeeded, the state and the victims would have lost a total of $22,988.

[00:02:36]Salako pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud. His sentence will run concurrently with another federal case in Colorado involving COVID relief fraud and international money laundering.

[00:02:47]In that case, he was previously sentenced to 6 and 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution, US.

[00:02:56]Attorney Michael J.

[00:02:57]Haiman for the District of Alaska stated that Salako spent considerable time planning and carrying out the fraud scheme and praised the Alaska Department of Revenue and the FBI for stopping it before losses occurred.

[00:03:09]FBI Anchorage Field Office Special Agent in Charge Matthew Schlegel also stated that the sentence reflected the government's commitment to protecting government benefit programs and holding fraudsters accountable regardless of where they live. The case was investigated by the FBI Anchorage Field Office and the Alaska Department of Revenue Criminal Investigations Unit.

[00:03:28]Assistant US Attorney Ainslee McNerney prosecuted the case.

[00:03:32]The FBI is eager to arrest anybody and Wicked Blogger Ghana has always been saying this.

[00:03:38]This arrest came after Ghana's Member of Parliament Ohene Kwame Frimpong got arrested in Amsterdam.

[00:03:43]He is also fighting his case and it seemed very difficult for him at once.

[00:03:48]To many, FBI is targeting African politicians in their recent bursts because this man Adebayo Babatunde Salako as an aspiring politician in Nigeria The main reason certain African politicians officials or politically connected individuals end up under FBI investigation is because many modern financial crimes now cross international borders and often touch the US financial system in some way.

[00:04:14]Once money linked to fraud bribery money laundering cybercrime sanctions violations or corruption moves through American banks American companies cryptocurrency exchanges or US based victims the FBI and other US agencies can become involved very quickly. A lot of people underestimate how much global money passes through the United States financially.

[00:04:39]Even if a suspicious transaction starts in Africa and ends in Europe or Asia there is a chance it still pass through American correspondent banks or dollar clearing systems somewhere along the line.

[00:04:51]Once that happens US authorities may claim jurisdiction.

[00:04:56]That is one major reason the FBI often appears in international corruption and fraud cases involving foreign officials.

[00:05:03]Another reason is that the United States has become far more aggressive about international financial crime over the last decade. The FBI Department of Justice Homeland Security and Treasury Department now work closely together on cases involving money laundering wire fraud romance scams cybercrime public corruption sanctions evasion cryptocurrency fraud bribery and stolen public funds.

[00:05:31]Some African politicians or politically exposed individuals attract attention because investigators believe they use foreign bank accounts luxury real estate shell companies or overseas investments to hide suspicious wealth.

[00:05:46]Once investigators notice unexplained money moving internationally, they start tracing it. The rise of cyber fraud and romance scams has also increased pressure on US agencies to investigate networks connected to Africa.

[00:05:58]Unfortunately, some criminal syndicates based in parts of West Africa have become heavily associated internationally with romance scams, business email compromise, and online fraud.

[00:06:10]Because many American victims lose huge sums of money in these scams, the FBI aggressively pursues anyone connected to those networks, including powerful individuals suspected of protecting, funding, or benefiting from criminal activity.

[00:06:24]Another factor is politics and international pressure.

[00:06:28]The United States increasingly presents itself as fighting global corruption and financial crime.

[00:06:34]When high-profile foreign officials are accused of stealing public funds, laundering money abroad, or participating in transnational fraud, American agencies often become involved because the US government wants to show it is cracking down on international corruption.

[00:06:50]Sometimes this also overlaps with diplomacy and geopolitical interests.

[00:06:55]The FBI is also much more technologically advanced today than people realize. Modern investigations involve international banking surveillance, cryptocurrency tracing, phone metadata, travel records, email tracking, financial intelligence sharing, and cooperation with foreign governments.

[00:07:13]A politician may think activities happening in Africa are invisible to the outside world, but once money touches international systems, investigators can quietly start building cases for years before arrests happen.

[00:07:25]That said, not every accusation or arrest means someone is automatically guilty.

[00:07:31]Some investigations become highly publicized before courts fully determine the facts.

[00:07:36]But generally, when the FBI goes after high-profile foreign figures, it is usually because investigators believe there is enough financial evidence connecting them to crimes involving US interests, victims, or financial systems. The reason the FBI seems more aggressive now is because cybercrime, international fraud, and money laundering have exploded globally.

[00:08:02]American authorities no longer treat these crimes as small issues.

[00:08:06]They now see them as threats to financial stability, national security, and international business confidence.

[00:08:13]That is why investigations today are faster, more international, and far more public than they were years ago.