The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a Nigerian man based in the United Kingdom, 47-year-old Ajibola Oduntan, for orchestrating a multi-million naira ticket fraud that targeted fans of the hit Broadway musical Wicked.
According to court filings, Oduntan was indicted by a grand jury on September 3 and is scheduled to stand trial on November 10 at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in Louisville. He faces charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Investigators allege that Oduntan, who also holds an Irish passport, obtained stolen credit card information from dozens of Americans and used it to purchase at least 61 Wicked tickets from the Kentucky Performing Arts (KPA). He resold them on StubHub, a popular U.S. ticket resale platform, duping unsuspecting theatergoers and leaving KPA with losses exceeding $100,000.
Credit card companies eventually flagged the transactions and issued chargebacks to affected customers, but by then the performances had already taken place, leaving KPA unable to recover its money. The organization alerted the FBI, providing payment records, names, emails, and IP addresses tied to the suspicious sales.
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Despite Oduntan’s use of VPNs to mask his digital trail, FBI special agent Daniel W. Heath traced the fraudulent funds through PayPal accounts linked directly to him. Court documents revealed that three StubHub accounts funneled over $350,000 to PayPal, which was then transferred into Oduntan’s accounts at Revolut and Allied Irish Bank in Ireland.
Further evidence tied him to at least four email addresses connected to the fraudulent PayPal accounts. PayPal’s own records confirmed deposits of nearly $350,000 between January 2023 and July 2024. Adding to the case, investigators discovered that the phone number Oduntan provided when applying for a U.S. visa matched the one used in the ticket scam.
The FBI obtained an arrest warrant from Magistrate Judge Regina S. Edwards, which was sealed until Oduntan arrived in the United States. Upon landing, he was immediately taken into custody.
The high-profile arrest underscores the FBI’s intensified crackdown on international fraud schemes targeting U.S. businesses and consumers. If convicted, Oduntan faces years in prison and heavy financial penalties.
