The FBI has detained Ajibola Oduntan, a 47-year-old Nigerian with an Irish passport, for orchestrating a ticketing scam that cost Kentucky Performing Arts (KPA) over $100,000 in ticket sales for the Broadway musical *Wicked* between September and October 2023. Oduntan faces charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Louisville.
Oduntan allegedly stole U.S. citizens’ credit card information to purchase at least 61 *Wicked* tickets from KPA, which he resold to unsuspecting buyers on StubHub, a leading U.S. ticket resale platform. After credit card companies detected the fraud, they issued chargebacks, leaving KPA with losses exceeding $100,000, as payments were reversed post-performance.
KPA reported the fraud to the FBI, providing payment details, including names, emails, and IP addresses of the cardholders involved. Despite Oduntan’s use of VPNs to mask his activities, the FBI traced the proceeds from StubHub sales to PayPal accounts linked to him, which were then transferred to his personal accounts at Revolut and Allied Irish Bank in Ireland.
FBI Special Agent Daniel W. Heath identified multiple transactions tied to three StubHub accounts and PayPal accounts using four email addresses—fenandexadex@gmail.com, romanslady001@gmail.com, romanslady00@gmail.com, and samesonbar@gmail.com—registered to Oduntan. Court filings from August 7 revealed that Oduntan deposited nearly $350,000 from StubHub into PayPal between January 2023 and July 2024.
The FBI uncovered Oduntan’s involvement when his U.S. visa application listed a phone number matching one used in the fraudulent transactions. Following this, Magistrate Judge Regina S. Edward issued a sealed arrest warrant. Oduntan was apprehended upon arriving in the U.S. in late August and is currently detained at Grayson County Detention Center after pleading not guilty. A grand jury charged him on September 3, with his trial set for November 10.
