An online scammer tricked a Trump supporter out of more than $250,000 dollars worth of cryptocurrency by pretending to be part of the president’s 2025 inaugural committee, federal officials alleged this week.
In late December, the fraudsters sent out emails “purporting to be Steve Witkoff,” then the co-chair of the committee, soliciting over $250,000 worth of USDT.ETH cryptocurrency, prosecutors alleged in a federal court complaint.
The victim paid the funds, and the crypto was soon distributed across “numerous other cryptocurrency addresses,” including a Nigeria-based Binance account tied to the name Ehiremen Aigbokhan, according to court documents.
“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient,” Washington U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement. “It can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to recoup lost funds due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain.”
Binance and Tether, firms and currencies associated with the alleged scam, complied with FBI requests later that month to freeze accounts containing some of the stolen funds, and federal prosecutors are seeking to seize about $40,000 worth of crypto across two accounts that hasn’t been withdrawn.
Officials allege the money was gained through wire fraud and money laundering.
The Independent has contacted an email officials said was associated with Aigbokhan for comment.
Federal officials said the scheme was an example of a “business email compromise scam,” and that the fraudster made subtle tweaks in email domain names, substituting a lowercase “L” for an uppercase “I” to appear to be associated with the official @t47lnaugural.com email addresses.
Trump and Witkoff, now a special Middle East envoy for the administration, are associated with a variety of legitimate crypto endeavors, including World Liberty Financial, which they launched with their sons last year.
