The United States Department of Justice has initiated legal proceedings to revoke the American citizenship of Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, a Nigerian-born man convicted in a $11.6 million fraud case. Kazeem was found guilty of orchestrating a large-scale identity theft and tax fraud scheme that defrauded US authorities of millions of dollars.
Denaturalization Complaint Filed
The US Justice Department filed a civil complaint before the US District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, seeking to revoke Kazeem’s citizenship. The government alleges that Kazeem unlawfully obtained American citizenship through fraud and concealment of his criminal conduct. The complaint states that Kazeem committed his fraud scheme both before and after becoming a US citizen and concealed his crimes, rendering his naturalization unlawful. It further claims that Kazeem entered a sham marriage to obtain permanent resident status and later married another woman, which disqualifies him from citizenship.
Conviction and Sentence
In 2017, Kazeem was convicted on 19 counts, including mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, former President Joe Biden commuted his sentence in 2024 after Kazeem had served only six years. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services assisted in the investigation.
Fraud Scheme Details
Kazeem trained and directed his co-conspirators in executing the scheme. He instructed them to use stolen personally identifiable information (PII) to obtain thousands of electronic filing PINs, bypassing IRS authentication procedures. The convict was linked to 10,139 fraudulent federal tax returns. He attempted to claim over $91 million in refunds and successfully received over $11.6 million.
Related Cases
In a separate case, a US federal jury convicted three individuals for their roles in a global email fraud scheme that defrauded over 1,000 victims of about $215 million. Investigators uncovered a method where hackers infiltrated email accounts, studied communication patterns, and sent convincing payment requests. Authorities seized cash, cryptocurrency, luxury items, and property linked to the operation, with 25 defendants convicted in total.
