Nigerian national arrested in Ghana in FBI and INTERPOL-linked cybercrime investigation

Aderinsola Oluwanifemi Adeleye, a Nigerian national, was arrested, arraigned, and remanded in custody following a major cybercrime investigation by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), the Ghana Police Service, INTERPOL, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Adeleye, who operates a cement block manufacturing business and resides at Oyarifa in Accra, had come under the intelligence radar of both INTERPOL and the FBI over suspected transnational cyber-enabled financial crimes linked to compromised United States Citi Bank debit cards.

According to a brief from the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), the case began on June 25, 2026, when the manager of the Haatso Shell Filling Station reported to police that Shell Headquarters had received a complaint from Ecobank Ghana concerning suspicious Point of Sale (POS) transactions carried out using two Citi Bank debit cards issued in the United States. Investigators traced the unauthorised transactions to POS terminals at the Haatso Shell Filling Station and Osu Total Filling Station. Two fuel pump attendants were arrested and, during interrogation, revealed that Adeleye and an accomplice had repeatedly visited the stations, using Citi Bank debit cards through mobile devices to process fraudulent transactions. The scheme worked by processing fictitious fuel purchases through POS terminals, with Adeleye receiving cash equivalent to the purported fuel purchase rather than actual fuel. Later that same evening, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Adeleye allegedly returned to the Haatso Shell Filling Station to conduct another transaction.