A Nigeria-based scammer impersonating Steve Witkoff, a longtime associate of U.S. President Donald Trump and co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, swindled around $250,000 in cryptocurrency from a potential political donor, as stated in a recent announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
According to court documents, the perpetrator created a fake email address closely resembling Witkoff’s legitimate email from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and deceived at least one donor into transferring $250,000 worth of USDT.ETH into the scammer’s wallet. Although the scammer attempted to launder the stolen assets, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) managed to recover and freeze 40,300 USDT.ETH, half of which was discovered in a Binance account under the name of Ehiremen Aigbokhan, a Lagos-based fraudster.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is working to return the recovered funds to the victim. Over $210,000 in cryptocurrency sent to the scammer has yet to be retrieved.
“All donors should verify that they are sending cryptocurrency to the correct recipient,” stated U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. “It can be exceptionally challenging for law enforcement to recover lost funds due to the complex nature of the blockchain. Nevertheless, my office and our law enforcement partners are committed to confronting criminals and making victims whole.”
According to multiple local media outlets, U.S. officials are seeking a formal arrest warrant for Aigbokhan.
Witkoff and his son Zach have strong connections to the Trump family’s main cryptocurrency project, World Liberty Financial.
Both Binance and Tether cooperated with the government’s investigation, as noted by the DOJ.
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