Houston doctor acquitted after 22 others were convicted in $17 million romance scam

HOUSTON - You may remember a massive Department of Justice bust where 23 people were arrested for fraud, including scamming hundreds of people in a romance scam.

Well, a Houston doctor was one of the people charged and the only one acquitted.     

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Before Dr. Segun Adeoye was acquitted by a jury in March 2024. He was held in jail for 30 months, deemed a flight risk. So he was not granted a bond.

"It feels like a horror movie," says Adeoye, but this monster is more frightening than any film.     

Houston Dr. Segun Adeoye went to help in a hospital in Kermit, Texas back in 2021, during an uptick in COVID cases. His first day there, he was arrested in the emergency room by federal agents, charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

"Something I don't wish my enemy to go through. I've lived a near perfect life, and it was more than shocking. I asked the FBI agent, 'you sure you have the right name?' He said, 'yes it's you.' I lost my dad while I was in jail. I had no time to grieve or attend his funeral. He died thinking the son he raised right, was locked in jail," Adeoye explained.

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Turns out, Adeoye, who's from Nigeria, had a childhood friend who was one of 23 people charged in that huge Department of Justice bust. So he believes officials thought he was guilty by association.     

Hundreds of Americans were scammed out of $17 million in a romance scam and other fraud, and every person charged was convicted except Adeoye, who was acquitted.

"It's been tough, very tough. When I was locked in jail, I had my Christmas meal in a cell that was flooded with excrement. Now that I'm out, some friends won't deal with me, because there's still a cloud of doubt. My God, it's an experience you don't wish your enemy to go through. One comforting factor, I knew the outcome. I knew I was going to be found not guilty. It was just the wait that was, actually, it nearly broke me," says Adeoye.  

"After he came out, he's a different man. No big hospitals will touch him. He has to find a job in some freestanding ER. He had two houses. They were all gone while he was in there," explains Adeoye's Attorney Femi Ogunjumelo with Mayday Law Office.

"I had no doubt I would be acquitted. My worry was how do I get my name back?" asks Adeoye.

"To have his name, his livelihood, his career all stolen from him by the Department of Justice, the FBI, under the guise that he committed a crime he knew nothing about. Now what will the government do to give him back the righteous good name that they robbed from him?" asks Community Activist Quanell X.

"We're suing the U.S. government. I don't know if a particular dollar amount can fully compensate for what he's gone through, for what he's suffering. This is all about accountability and making sure this doesn't happen to anyone ever again," says Ogunjumelo.

"Your life has been given back to you, but it's not. It's going to take years to rebuild," says Adeoye, who's suing for nearly $400 million.

We reached out to the Department of Justice for comment regarding the lawsuit, and we're awaiting a response.