A Nigerian national linked to international cyber fraud investigations involving the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been arrested in Ghana following a joint intelligence-led operation.
The operation, led by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service and international law enforcement partners, resulted in the arrest of Aderinsola Oluwanifemi Adeleye over alleged transnational cyber-enabled financial crimes involving compromised United States bank cards.
Authorities described the arrest as a major breakthrough in the fight against cross-border cybercrime.
According to investigators, the operation followed months of intelligence gathering and cooperation between the CSA, the Ghana Police Service, INTERPOL and the FBI aimed at dismantling an international financial crime network.
Adeleye, who operates a cement block manufacturing business and resides at Oyarifa in Accra, has since been arraigned before court over alleged fraudulent Point of Sale (POS) transactions carried out at several fuel stations across Ghana.
The case began on June 25, 2026, after the manager of Haatso Shell Filling Station reported that Shell Headquarters had received a complaint from Ecobank Ghana PLC concerning suspicious POS transactions involving two Citibank debit cards issued in the United States.
Investigators traced the unauthorised transactions to POS terminals at Haatso Shell Filling Station and Osu Total Filling Station.
Subsequent internal investigations by Shell Ghana identified two fuel pump attendants suspected of facilitating the fraudulent transactions.
During police interrogation, the attendants allegedly disclosed that Adeleye and another accomplice repeatedly visited Haatso Shell Filling Station and used Citibank debit cards through mobile devices to process fraudulent transactions.
Police said the suspect returned to the Haatso Shell Filling Station later that same day to conduct another transaction using one of the Citibank debit cards and was immediately identified by the attendants before being arrested.
A search conducted on him led to the recovery of a Beretta pistol loaded with two rounds of 9mm live ammunition and a Citibank Visa debit card.
Investigators later searched the offices of AA Global Homes Construction Limited at Katamanso, where they recovered 15 rounds of live 9mm ammunition and an empty 9mm shell casing concealed in a drawer.
The recovered items have been retained as exhibits while investigations continue.
Authorities disclosed that Adeleye had already come under the intelligence radar of the Cyber Security Authority over suspected cyber-enabled financial crimes before his arrest.
Acting on intelligence, the Ghana Police Service, together with the CSA, secured a court-issued search warrant to search the suspect’s residence at Oyarifa on June 27.
During the operation, officers recovered two mobile phones and other electronic devices believed to have been used in the commission of the alleged offences. The devices have been sent for forensic examination.
According to investigators, the suspect admitted using the recovered Citibank debit card to conduct transactions at both Haatso Shell Filling Station and Osu Total Filling Station.
In his cautioned statement, he allegedly claimed that an individual identified as Gail Oneara, who resides in the United States, sent him the debit card with an available balance of approximately US$10,000 for his personal use.
He further claimed to have spent or withdrawn about US$8,000 from the card before his arrest.
Further investigations involving Ecobank Ghana PLC confirmed that the bank had received a fraud complaint from Citibank through Visa International regarding unauthorised transactions conducted on two customers’ debit cards.
Investigators allege that Adeleye and his accomplices visited several fuel stations where they collaborated with pump attendants to process fictitious fuel purchases using stolen or compromised Citibank debit cards.
Once the transactions were approved through the POS terminals, the suspect allegedly received cash equivalent to the supposed fuel purchases instead of fuel, thereby obtaining the proceeds of the fraudulent transactions.
Investigators also believe the proceeds of the alleged fraud were used to acquire several assets, including a four-bedroom storey building, a cement block manufacturing factory at Katamanso, a black Nissan ZNA pickup vehicle and other properties suspected to have been purchased with proceeds of crime.
Law enforcement agencies say investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest other members of the alleged criminal syndicate, trace additional assets and determine the full scale of the international fraud network.
The suspect has been formally charged and arraigned before court, with the case currently pending.
