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By: Manoah Kikekon
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| Oluyomi Omobolanle Bombata ‘Bobo Chicago’ Bombata mugshot [Credit: Peoples Gazette] |
The FBI arrested Oluyomi Omobolanle Bombata, also known as Bobo Chicago, last week for allegedly defrauding several companies and individuals out of up to $2.8 million.
Bobo Chicago, also known as "Bola Flexx" because of his extravagant lifestyle, was taken into custody on November 20 in Chicago, Illinois, on the basis of an arrest warrant that was issued in Oklahoma after he was the subject of multiple criminal complaints and an investigation that found his actions suspicious.
According to reports, 25-year-old Bobo Chicago terrorised Nigerians in the Houston metro area before escaping to Chicago to live there.
The FBI listed the five charges of criminal consequences—wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and unlawful monetary transactions—that he faced after being transferred from Chicago to Oklahoma, where he allegedly committed the fraud between June 2023 and October 2023.
His co-conspirator was also being held in custody by law enforcement agents.
Federal agents have already identified $2.8 million that Bobo Chicago obtained by hacking into multiple companies and individual accounts in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The agents also discovered that he transferred more than $300,000 in alleged fraudulent funds to a popular liquor store in the United States, implicating the store owner.
Judge Beth Jantz of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago signed paperwork transferring him to Oklahoma to face charges.
Bobo Chicago was assigned a public defender after claiming he did not have the financial resources to fight the case on his own, implying that he would rather serve time than spend a fortune arguing his innocence.
His arrest adds to the list of Nigerians incarcerated or facing criminal charges.
The FBI has apprehended dozens of notorious Nigerian fraudsters, including Hushpuppi and Mr Woodberry, who are serving prison sentences at Fort Dix for defrauding U.S. companies of millions of dollars.
Hushpuppi was arrested in June 2020 in Dubai and extradited to the United States to defend himself against Internet scam charges. In 2022, he was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II.
In July 2023, Judge Robert Gettleman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago convicted and sentenced Mr Woodberry to eight years and three months in prison on a single count of fraud.
In a plea deal, he received a reduced sentence that eliminated seven other counts.
Bidemi Rufai, a convicted felon and associate of Ogun governor Dapo Abiodun, was the first to be released earlier this month, according to the Peoples Gazette.