‘How suspected Lagos-based ‘Yahoo Boy’ diverted Trump inauguration funds’

A Nigerian national has been identified by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the mastermind behind a sophisticated cyber fraud (Yahoo) scheme that allegedly redirected over ₦460 million earmarked for President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration.

According to a civil forfeiture filing in a U.S. District Court, Ehirmen Aigbokhan is suspected of orchestrating a cryptocurrency-based scam from Lagos, Nigeria. The operation reportedly took place just weeks before the scheduled Trump-Vance inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Authorities said the scheme relied on a common but effective method known as Business Email Compromise (BEC), which involves mimicking legitimate email accounts to deceive victims into transferring money. A formal arrest warrant has been requested for Mr. Aigbokhan, who is also facing charges related to wire fraud and money laundering.

Deception Through Detail
Court filings reveal that the fraudsters created email addresses closely resembling those used by members of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.

One fake email, for instance—@t47lnaugural.com—was nearly identical to the actual domain used by committee co-chair Steve Witkoff, whose real address ends with @t47inaugural.com. The scam exploited a subtle switch: replacing an uppercase “I” with a lowercase “L.”

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This minor alteration led to a major financial loss when, on December 26, 2024, a donor unknowingly transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH—a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar and hosted on the Ethereum blockchain. At the time, the funds were valued at more than ₦400 million.

Once the transaction was completed, the cryptocurrency was quickly dispersed, with 215,000 USDT.ETH moved across several digital wallets in an apparent effort to obscure its origin.

The FBI flagged the activity and, working in partnership with crypto platform Tether, froze the suspicious accounts on December 31, 2024, preventing further movement of the funds.

Further investigations led federal agents to Nigeria. IP logs pointed to Lagos as the operational base, and a key discovery connected the fraudulent crypto wallet to a Binance.com account registered by Mr. Aigbokhan in October 2024.

That account, notably inactive until the scam proceeds were received, became a central piece of evidence in tying him to the fraud. Investigators later confirmed that the same wallet was used to route portions of the stolen funds.

As part of its ongoing probe, the U.S. Department of Justice has already seized two cryptocurrency balances: 20,017 USDT.ETH from Aigbokhan’s wallet, and another 20,336 USDT.ETH from a related wallet, totaling more than ₦60 million by black market valuation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock Jr., representing the District of Columbia, is petitioning the court to approve forfeiture of the recovered digital assets.

The FBI has confirmed that efforts are underway to track down Aigbokhan and any collaborators. Although no official word has been given regarding diplomatic coordination or extradition proceedings, U.S. officials say the case illustrates the increasing threat posed by international cybercriminals targeting high-profile events.

PM NEWS