The United States government has begun legal steps to revoke the citizenship of a Nigerian-born man, Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, over his alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud and identity theft operation.
According to the United States Department of Justice, the move follows a civil case filed in Baltimore, where prosecutors claim the suspect obtained U.S. citizenship by hiding his past criminal conduct.
Court records show that Kazeem was earlier convicted in 2017 on charges including wire fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, and conspiracy. He was handed a 15-year prison sentence but later regained freedom in 2024 after his sentence was reduced following a commutation.
Authorities say the fraud did not stop with his conviction, alleging that the scheme also influenced activities before and after he became a U.S. citizen, making his naturalisation legally questionable.
Investigators linked him to a large identity theft network that reportedly used the personal information of over 250,000 people. The group is said to have filed thousands of fake tax returns, attempting to steal tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. tax system, with over $11 million successfully paid out.
The operation, which ran for several years, allegedly relied on stolen data purchased from online hackers and was used to submit fraudulent claims through official tax channels.
Officials also traced money movements tied to the scheme, including transfers sent outside the United States, some of which were linked to Nigeria. The funds were allegedly spent on luxury assets and property investments.
Under U.S. law, citizenship can be revoked if it is proven that it was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation, a process known as denaturalisation.
The case adds to ongoing U.S. efforts to crack down on cross-border cyber fraud, identity theft networks, and financial crimes involving large-scale tax scams.
