United States v. Christopher Agbaje

── United States v. Christopher Agbaje ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Date: May 13, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 24-2944 ___________________________ United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Christopher Agbaje, doing business as Ace Telecommunications & Consultancy Services, Inc., doing business as Acorin USA, LLC Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the District of North Dakota - Western ____________ Submitted: May 16, 2025 Filed: May 13, 2026 [Published] ____________ Before BENTON, GRASZ, and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. A jury convicted Christopher Agbaje of money laundering and of aiding and abetting mail fraud and wire fraud. At trial, Agbaje unsuccessfully moved to admit certain statements made during the government’s witness preparation of Ome Etue, Agbaje’s alleged accomplice and — as the government acknowledges — “an important witness in the United States’ case.” Agbaje appeals several aspects of his conviction and sentence, including the sufficiency of the evidence and the district court’s decision to exclude the statements from Etue’s preparation as irrelevant. As to the statements, Agbaje argues they were relevant to Etue’s bias and credibility. We agree, and because the error was not harmless, we reverse and remand for a new trial. I. Background In November 2020, an imposter posing as “Stephen Kersey” emailed a North Dakota law firm requesting representation in a dispute with a Bismarck, North Dakota, company over an unpaid debt. The imposter then informed the law firm that the Bismarck company had agreed to pay the debt directly to the firm. Shortly after, the law firm received a fraudulent $198,850 check purportedly from the Bismarck company. The imposter told the law firm to deposit the check, deduct its fees, and wire the remainder based on account information that would be provided. The law firm later wired $198,336.68 to an account that Etue had opened in the name of “Ace Telecommunications and Consultancy SER.” Etue then wired $180,000 from that account to a Danish account in the name of “Aller Aqua,” which was purportedly a Danish fish feed company with a Nigerian subsidiary. In January 2021, Agbaje received an email from “appointed Forex Changers for Aller Aqua Nigeria,” confirming that they had purchased “funds of [$]175,500 and [$]180,000 . . . from McBag Limited for onward payment to Aller Aqua Denmark.”1 Agbaje resided in Nigeria and owned McBag Limited. The government charged Etue with mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in August 2021. He agreed to cooperate and later testified at Agbaje’s trial. There, Etue testified that Agbaje was a longtime friend with several business 1 The government presented evidence of a similar scheme in November 2020 that involved a Florida law firm. The Stephen Kersey imposter directed the Florida law firm to wire $195,500 to an account opened by Etue in the name of “Acorin USA LLC.” Etue then wired $175,500 from that account to the Danish Aller Aqua account. -2- ventures in Nigeria, including a fish farm and a telecommunications company called Acorin Limited. According to Etue, he entered a business partnership with Agbaje, who directed him to register two companies in the United States: “Ace Telecommunications and Consultancy Services LLC” and “Acorin USA LLC.” Etue o