A Nigeria-based scammer posing as Steve Witkoff, a long-time ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, stole approximately $250,000 in crypto from a would-be political donor, according to a recent press announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
According to court documents, the scammer created a spoofed email address that closely resembled Witkoff’s legitimate Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee email address, and was able to trick at least one donor into depositing $250,000 worth of USDT.ETH into the scammer’s wallet. Though the scammer then took steps to launder their ill-gotten gains, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to recover and freeze 40,300 USDT.ETH, half of which was found in a Binance account in the name of Ehiremen Aigbokhan, a Lagos-based fraudster or “yahoo boy.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has moved to return the recovered funds to the victim. Over $210,000 in crypto sent to the scammer has not yet been recovered.
“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris 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. Nevertheless, my office and our law enforcement partners stand ready to go toe-to-toe with criminals and make 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 close ties to the Trump family’s main crypto project, World Liberty Financial.
Binance and Tether both cooperated with the government’s investigation, the DOJ said.
