HOUSTON – The Katy couple charged in relation to the enslavement of their nanny have been sentenced  and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution to the victim, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Sandra Nsobundu, 49, pleaded guilty to unlawful conduct with respect to documents in furtherance of forced labor, while her husband - Chudy Nsobundu, 57, pleaded to visa fraud.

 

At a hearing that concluded late tonight, U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas ordered the couple to pay $121,035.04 in restitution to the victim. They will also serve sentences of 14 months – seven in prison and another seven on home confinement. In addition to the restitution, Sandra Nsobundu was further ordered to pay an additional $5,000 fine per the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015. Both will also be required to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of the prison term.

 

From on or about Sept. 29, 2013, and Oct. 10, 2015, the couple maintained a Nigerian woman to serve as a housemaid and nanny at their residence in Katy. 

 

The immigration laws and regulations of the U.S. require citizens of certain foreign countries who seek admission to the U.S. to obtain a visa prior to entry. The application must contain true and accurate information and is submitted under oath. The defendants knowingly caused a false visa application for the victim to be submitted to the Department of State with numerous pieces of false information. These included the woman’s incorrect date of birth identifying her as 20 years older than she was, a false statement that she was married when she was not, a false statement indicating the purpose of travel was to attend a niece’s graduation and a written letter falsely stating that Chudy Nsobundu was her brother. Chudy Nsobundu knowingly made multiple material misrepresentations under oath on the visa application to increase the chances that the victim’s visa application would be accepted and to hide the fact that she would be working for the Nsobundu family as a housemaid and nanny under conditions not in compliance with U.S. labor laws. He submitted the application under oath, knowing the application contained these material misrepresentations.

 

Sandra Nsobundu aided and abetted in the submission of the fraudulently filed visa application her husband had submitted. In September 2013, Sandra Nsobundu took the woman to the U.S. Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, to obtain her visa. Sandra Nsobundu gave her a letter to provide to the consular officials which indicated she did not speak English well and that she would be traveling to the U.S. for her niece’s graduation. Sandra Nsobundu gave the woman a picture of Chudy Nsobundu and the family and told her to tell the officials that he was her brother. The victim is not a relative of Chudy Nsobundu and is not married. The spouse listed on her visa application is the Nsobundus’ driver in Nigeria.  

 

After obtaining the woman’s visa, the Nsobundus paid to transport the victim from Nigeria to the U.S. Once here, Sandra Nsobundu took the victim’s passport and copies of her bank statement. The defendants then concealed, removed and possessed the woman’s passport and visa with the intent to violate the forced labor statute. As part of the plea today, they intended to prevent and restrict, without lawful authority, the victim’s liberty and ability to move and travel in order to maintain her labor and services. 

 

The couple knowingly unlawfully obtained the labor and services of this woman from on or about Sept. 29, 2013, to Oct. 10, 2015.  Throughout the period she worked for defendants, the victim was not permitted to have her passport or visa. The Nsobundus knowingly enacted a scheme intended to cause the woman to believe that failure to perform the labor and services would result in serious harm to her. They also threatened abuse of law and the legal process. The scheme included not paying the victim and restricting her movement to the defendants’ residence or two short walks per day around the block with the children. They also frequently yelled at, scolded and berated the victim for moving too slowly or failing to care for the children in the manner they wanted. In addition, the Nsobundus threatened to send the woman back to Nigeria if she did not comply with their labor demands.   

 

The Nsobundus had previously agreed to pay the victim 20,000 Nigerian nairas-$100 U.S. per month. The Nsobundus never paid the victim for any of her work here in the United States.

 

The victim was rescued Oct. 10, 2015, after more than two years with Nsobundus in the U.S. following a tip to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

 

The couple was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

 

Members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance conducted the investigation, which included Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Department of State-Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Julie N. Searle and former AUSA Ruben R. Perez prosecuted the case.

HOUSTON – A Louisville, Kentucky, resident has admitted she unlawfully obtained citizenship by entering into a sham marriage with a Houston man, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.

 

Nigerian native Euphemia Chinyeaka Okeke, 41, admitted to marrying a Houston resident and U.S. citizen while in Nigeria. She then applied for an immigrant visa and alien registration based on that marriage, claiming her permanent residence would be Houston.

 

However, shortly after she arrived in the United States, Okeke conceived a child and lived in Louisville with Kenneth Okeke, a Nigerian citizen with no legal status to reside in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Okeke have since lived in Louisville and have two children together there.

 

In her application for naturalization, however, she testified under oath and penalty of perjury that since arriving in this country, she continuously lived in Houston with her purported husband and no one else, had not lived in any other place in the United States and had no children. She became a naturalized citizen on Sept. 14, 2011.

 

Less than a month later, Euphemia Okeke filed for divorce. She married Kenneth Okeke two weeks later and filed a petition for alien relative in an attempt to obtain lawful immigration status for him. In that petition, she stated under oath and penalty of perjury that she was divorced two years before she actually was and that she had lived and worked in Louisville since arriving in the United States.

 

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon accepted the plea and has set sentencing for Aug. 4, 2017. At that time, Euphemia Okeke faces up to 10 years in federal prison and possible revocation of her citizenship.

 

Kenneth Okeke is currently in deportation proceedings.

 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Goldman is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON - A Nigerian national was charged in court documents unsealed today for his role as the alleged ringleader of an international advance-fee scheme.

The scam allegedly involved false promises of investment funding by individuals who impersonated U.S. bank officials in person and over the internet to victims around the world who were told they had to make certain payments before they could supposedly receive their funding. Proceeds of the scheme were allegedly laundered through U.S. bank accounts and diverted back to the scheme’s perpetrators in Nigeria.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Robert Smolich of the U.S. Department of State - Office of Inspector General (DOS-OIG) made the announcement. 

Osondu Victor Igwilo, 49, of Lagos, Nigeria, was charged in a complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas in December 2016 and unsealed today. The complaint charges Igwilo with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. Igwilo remains a fugitive.     

As alleged in the complaint, Igwilo was the leader of a criminal network of “catchers,” who sent phishing emails to potential victims falsely offering investment funding on behalf of BB&T Corporation, a U.S. bank headquartered in North Carolina. When victims were interested in the supposed investment funding, Igwilo allegedly dispatched U.S. citizens whom he had recruited over the internet to pose as “representatives” of BB&T to meet in person with the victims and sign a supposed investment agreement on behalf of BB&T. When traveling to the countries where the victims resided, these representatives, at Igwilo’s direction, would visit the local U.S. embassy or consulate and employ fake documents with fraudulent seals of the U.S. government to deceive the victims into believing that the investment agreement was sponsored by the U.S. government, according to the complaint. Igwilo then allegedly used the representatives and catchers to convince victims to make wire payments to bank accounts in the United States on the false belief that such payments were necessary to effectuate the investment agreements. The complaint further alleges the holders of the U.S. bank accounts were “money movers” who disposed of the funds as directed by Igwilo, including by purchasing luxury vehicles from brands such as Mercedes Benz and Range Rover and shipping them to Nigeria.

Uche Diuno, 52, also of Lagos, was charged in a separate case in a second superseding indictment filed Oct. 3, 2018, with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of concealment money laundering. Diuno was arrested in Paris, France, on Sept. 29, 2018, and is awaiting extradition.

As alleged in the second superseding indictment, Diuno was a “chairman” or leader in the scheme who operated his own network of catchers and money movers alongside Igwilo’s which he used in furtherance of the same BB&T investment scam. 

Seven other individuals have been charged to date as part of the same investigation including Uju Okigbo, 49, and Chioma Okafor, 29, both of Houston and alleged money movers; Tochukwu Nwosisi, 47, of Indianapolis, Indiana, also an alleged money mover; and Marita Ranalan Underwood, 62, of Manila, Philippines, John Christian Rutledge, 65, of Yaphank, New York, Osa May Martin, 69, of Carthage, Missouri, and Tiffany Sourjohn, 48, of Miami, Oklahoma, all alleged representatives.

Okigbo, Okafor, Rutledge and Sourjohn have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Underwood remains a fugitive. Martin and Nwosisi are pending trial.  

The FBI and DOS-OIG conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Suzanne Elmilady of the Southern District of Texas and Trial Attorney William E. Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. AUSA Kristine Rollinson is handling forfeiture aspects of the case.

 

The charges in the complaint and second superseding indictment are merely allegations.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Afeez Akinloye, age 44, a Nigerian citizen, was sentenced on September 19, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Akinloye to a total of 30 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Akinloye’s release from prison, he will begin a 3-year term of supervised release and is subject to removal from the United States.In the Fall of 2016, continuing to the summer of 2017, Akinloye participated in a scheme to defraud U.S. based businesses involved in real estate transactions. As a part of the scheme, Akinloye and other individuals gained access to email accounts and account information related to real estate transactions and then posed as the seller in the real estate transaction, requesting wire transfers be sent to locations and accounts that the fraudsters had access to. The accounts Akinloye and the other fraudsters had access to were as a result of other co-conspirators victimizing unwitting mules through romance scams. There were two victims in the District of Nebraska who lost $52,000 as a result of the wire fraud conspiracy. There were a total of eleven victims with losses of $1,850,000 and attempted losses of $4,600,000. Akinloye and the co-conspirators committed the offense from outside the United States, mostly from South Africa.  At the request of the United States, South African authorities arrested Akinloye for the purpose of his extradition in September 2022, a court in South Africa found him extraditable in June 2023, and South African authorities extradited him to the United States in December 2023.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, in coordination with the South African Department of Justice, provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Akinloye.Akinloye’s co-defendants, Saliu Jimoh Akinloye, Ebenezer Gbenga Omoshagba, and Sheriff Opeyemi Olalere, remain at large.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

HOUSTON – A 57-year-old man has been sentenced for his role in a fraud conspiracy perpetrated against victims in more than 20 countries, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Uche Victor Diuno pleaded guilty Feb. 1.

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett has now ordered Diuno to serve 60 months months in federal prison and to pay $5,693,648 in restitution. Not a U.S. citizen, Diuno is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. At the hearing, the court recounted Diuno’s recent testimony in which Diuno detailed his own significant role in the fraud. Diuno himself told the court he regretted his actions and the great harm he caused to victims of the scheme.  



“Diuno helped orchestrate a team of fraudsters impersonating bank executives to pitch fake investments and fake payouts to real victims around the world,” said Hamdani. “This international operation, supported by a cadre of co-conspirators, stole millions from victims as far off as Asia and as close as America, all to funnel money and Land Rovers to his boss in Nigeria. Now, the only traveling Diuno will do will be from a prison yard back to his cell.”



Diuno helped orchestrate a scam in which fraudsters abroad lured victims with false promises of millions in investment funding and inheritances.

His co-conspirators posed as executives and employees of well-known U.S. banks to deceive victims into making payments to secure purported investment and money transfer agreements. Other members of the conspiracy then laundered these payments through U.S. bank accounts and directed them back to the scheme’s leaders in Nigeria.

Diuno admitted he and his co-conspirators used multiple aliases to convince victims the scam was authentic. Diuno also admitted to his role in the laundering of victim funds.

Acting on instructions from the scheme’s leader, Diuno directed a co-conspirator to disburse victim funds after receiving them. This included transferring funds to other bank accounts through currency exchangers and purchasing vehicles that were shipped back to scammers in Nigeria.

From October 2014 to September 2018, Diuno and his co-conspirators caused losses of nearly $5.7 million.

“Uche Victor Diuno conspired with criminal associates who established false web domains and capitalized on sham visits to U.S. embassies around the globe to defraud millions of dollars from victims in over 20 countries,” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. “This complex, international investment fraud was identified, investigated, and ultimately eradicated due to the diligent work of FBI Houston agents and our key partners at the Department of State’s Office of Inspector General (DOS-OIG). We encourage all Americans to protect themselves from fraudsters like Uche Diuno by visiting www.ic3.gov for the most relevant information about trending scams and protective tips to combat swindles.”

“DOS-OIG is unwavering in our commitment to investigate and bring to justice individuals engaged in international fraud schemes such as Uche Victor Diuno,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Hileman, DOS-OIG. “We greatly appreciate the work of our partners at the FBI Houston Field Office, Southern District of Texas, Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and their diligent and professional investigation and prosecution of Diuno.”

Diuno will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

FBI and DOS-OIG conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Latham and Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

HOUSTON – A 25-year-old Nigerian man who resided in Houston has been ordered to federal prison for perpetuating a wire fraud scheme involving various Internet scams, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Wiseman Oputa pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud April 20, 2017.

 

Today, U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett, who accepted the guilty plea, handed Oputa the 36-month sentence. He was further ordered to pay a $1,319,103.72 in restitution to the numerous victims he defrauded. Not a U.S. citizen, Oputa is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release from prison.

 

Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, until Jan. 25, 2017, Oputa used counterfeit passports to open bank accounts in the greater Houston area. The passports contained photographs of Oputa but had different names and identification information. He then worked with others to lure victims into sending money into these bank accounts. These funds were obtained through a variety of Internet scams, including business email compromises, romance schemes and unauthorized intrusions into company email accounts. Checks or wire transfers were then sent from the company’s accounts payable to accounts Oputa or others he controlled. Oputa would then use the counterfeit passports to retrieve the fraudulently obtained funds. 

 

Oputa was part of a scheme that defrauded numerous victims nationwide. In one instance in December 2016, Oputa opened an account at Regions Bank with a counterfeit Ghanaian passport as identification. Shortly thereafter, the account received a wire transfer of $40,000 from a victim who had been told to send money for taxes on money he had won in Spain. USAA Bank identified the fraudulent transfer and was able to recall this specific wire. Two additional wires were also recalled; however, the remaining victims’ wire transfers were not.  The total amount of money the victims lost nationwide exceeded $1.3 million.

 

Oputa will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation along with Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service and the Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 57-year-old Nigerian national has been extradited from France to face charges in the United States for his alleged leadership role in a conspiracy perpetrated against victims in more than 20 countries, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Uche Victor Diuno is set to appear today at 2 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena H. Palermo in Houston.

He arrived in the United States Friday, June 9.

The charges allege Diuno helped to orchestrate a scam involving false promises of investment funding by individuals who impersonated U.S. bank officials in person and over the internet to victims around the world. Those victims were allegedly told they had to make certain payments before they could supposedly receive their funding. Proceeds of the scheme were laundered through U.S. bank accounts and diverted back to the scheme’s perpetrators in Nigeria, according to the charges.

Diuno allegedly lead a criminal network of “catchers,” who sent phishing emails to potential victims falsely offering investment funding on behalf of BB&T Corporation and other U.S. banks. Victims in various countries were deceived into believing they would receive millions of dollars of investment funding as part of joint ventures with U.S. banks, usually BB&T or Chase,

according to the indictment. The perpetrators allegedly utilized false domain names to make it appear that senders of emails were actually affiliated with BB&T or Chase. The charges further allege that to convince victims the opportunities were authentic, the perpetrators recruited U.S. citizens to pose as bank “representatives” at in-person meetings with victims around the world. Further, if occurring abroad, they utilized sham visits to the local U.S. embassy or consulate and fabricated documents to make the victims believe the U.S. government was sponsoring the investment agreements, according to the indictment. The victims were then allegedly induced to pay tens of thousands, and often hundreds of thousands, of dollars to U.S.-based bank accounts on the belief that such payments were necessary to effectuate their investment agreements. 

Diuno was originally charged in a second superseding indictment filed Oct. 3, 2018, with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of concealment money laundering. 

As alleged in that indictment, Diuno was a “chairman” or leader in the scheme who operated his own network of catchers and money movers alongside other fraudsters, which he used in furtherance of the same BB&T investment scam. 

Five other individuals have been charged as part of the same indictment.

The scheme allegedly resulted in losses of more than $7 million.

The FBI and Department of State – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Christian Latham of the Southern District of Texas and Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

 

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

HOUSTON - An Indiana man has been ordered to federal prison for his role in an international advance-fee scheme orchestrated from Nigeria that defrauded victims worldwide of over $5.6 million, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

The jury deliberated for 45 minutes before convicting Tochukwu Nwosisi, 52, Indianapolis, Indiana, following a six-day trial March 4 of conspiracy to commit money laundering and concealment money laundering.

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett has now ordered Nwosisi to serve a total of 36 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by two years of supervised release. He must also pay $905,945 in restitution. In handing down the sentence, the court noted Nwosisi was a knowing, willing participant in a criminal scheme with very real impacts to victims around the world, stating that “today is the day for accountability.”  

From at least February 2015 to January 2018, Nwosisi participated in an advance-fee scheme involving fraudulent offers of investment funding and inheritances to victims around the world. Nwosisi’s Nigeria-based co-conspirators induced victims to make large wire payments to bank accounts in the United States on the false belief that payment of the purported advance fees was necessary before the bank would release their funding or inheritance. Nwosisi served as a money launderer who accepted victim funds into his U.S.-based bank accounts and directed the proceeds to the ringleaders in Nigeria.

The FBI and Department of State – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Latham prosecuted the case along with Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

HOUSTON – A 45-year-old Nigerian national has been ordered to federal prison for his participation in two separate schemes to defraud victim homeowners and a corporation and launder the proceeds of those frauds.  

Joseph Modile pleaded guilty Feb. 27, 2023, to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft filed in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) and charges of money laundering and wire fraud filed in the Southern District of Texas (SDTX) and subsequently transferred to the EDNY.

U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati has now ordered Modile to serve 145 months in prison. As part of the sentence, Modile was also ordered to pay more than $1.5 million each in restitution and forfeiture.



“Although Modile took part in a complicated scheme, involving a cadre of runners and a series of fake documents and bank accounts, his goal was simple - steal from unsuspecting victims,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the SDTX. “While his crimes stretched to all parts, from Brooklyn to Houston, thanks to the work of two U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Modile will spend several years in one place, a prison cell, no longer able to help fellow criminals prey on the innocent.”



“Modile checked all the boxes for a sophisticated fraud–stealing, deception, money laundering and identity theft. Today’s sentence checks the box for an appropriate penalty for his crimes of greed from Brooklyn to Texas,” stated U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the EDNY.  “I commend the prosecutors from my Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDTX and the special agents for their outstanding work unraveling Modile’s scheme.”

“Today’s sentencing is a positive step toward justice for Joseph Modile’s victims – homeowners, business owners and the everyday email users alike who were defrauded of over $15 million as a result of his sophisticated schemes. The defendant spearheaded at least three fraud schemes across the country and over the course of several years. His tactics, while sophisticated, were no match for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York’s El Dorado Task Force Cyber investigators,” stated HSI New York Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan. “I commend HSI New York, the New York City Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the EDNY and SDTX, as well as FBI Houston, for a job well done.”

“FBI Houston, along with our domestic and international law enforcement partners, led an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation on numerous prolific organized crime figures. Modile, for years, was an orchestrator of multi-million-dollar fraud schemes who stole from countless victims around the world,” stated FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas Williams. “Dismantling large-scale criminal enterprises is what the FBI does, and Modile’s sentence should send a message to greedy criminals like him still out there, it’s just a matter of time before we get you too.”

In the SDTX case, from November 2017 until May 2018, Modile knowingly devised a scheme to defraud victims. Modile used his cellular phone to communicate with others about financial transactions for the purpose of executing his scheme. Modile directed an individual already convicted in Houston to withdraw cash from their bank account and provide it to others. Modile also directed the individual in Houston to lie to their financial institution regarding the reason for withdrawing money from their account. In February 2018, Modile orchestrated and directed a substantial amount of money into an account of the individual in Houston. The money derived from wire fraud, and Modile was aware the money came from unlawful activity.

In the case filed in the EDNY, from January 2014 and September 2018, Modile and others defrauded victims, businesses and financial institutions in the United States through a sophisticated home equity line of credit (HELOC) scheme involving a series of bank account takeovers. During this time, Modile and others also laundered proceeds from the bank account takeovers. In furtherance of the HELOC fraud scheme, Modile and others acquired personal identifying information (PII) of the actual holders of the targeted bank accounts at the financial institutions. The co-conspirators then used the PII to impersonate the actual holders of the targeted bank accounts, thereby gaining control of the accounts. In some cases, members of the conspiracy recruited “runners,” who impersonated the actual account holders inside bank branches using forged and fraudulent identification documents created at Modile’s direction. In most instances, the stolen funds were first deposited into fraudulent bank accounts co-conspirators set up and controlledin the names of the actual victims from whom the money had been stolen. In other cases, the bank accounts into which the stolen funds were first deposited were in the names of sham corporations, which were opened using false and fraudulent identification. In total, Modile and others stole at least $5 million as part of the HELOC fraud scheme.

In May 2018, Modile and others engaged in a separate business email compromise scheme using fraudulent emails and telephone calls to steal approximately $10.2 million from a victim company. The co-conspirators used a fraudulent email address to impersonate a contractor of an entity located in St. Paul, Minnesota, and directed representatives of that entity to deposit the funds in an account members of the conspiracy controlled. Modile and others then laundered those stolen funds through bank accounts that co-conspirators controlled. 

FBI and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

This effort is part of an OCDETF operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF

Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Rodolfo Ramirez prosecuted the case along with EDNY AUSA David Pitluck. 

HOUSTON – A 32-year-old legal permanent resident from Nigeria and his 31-year-old Houston girlfriend have been ordered to federal prison in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Tom Emasealu and Krystal Prophet entered guilty pleas in December 2016 after four days of trial and hearing the testimony of 21 witnesses. Emasealu pleaded guilty to all charges contained in the indictment - conspiracy, possession of at least 15 unauthorized access devices, access device fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prophet admitted to the conspiracy, access device fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

 

Today, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore handed Emasealu a total of 87 months in federal prison for the conspiracy, fraud and possession of access devices. He also received a mandatory 24 months for the identity theft which must be served consecutively for a total 111-month-sentence. Prophet received 30 months plus 24 months for a total 54-month-term of federal imprisonment. Prophet will be required to serve three years of supervised release following completion of the prison term, while Emasealu is expected to face deportation proceedings following his release from prison.

 

Both were jointly and severally liable for $37,100.29 in restitution to the victims. Prophet and Emsealu were also found responsible for $113,526 and $273,181.29, respectfully, to the IRS.

 

In handing down the sentence, Judge Gilmore addressed Emasealu and noted, “You totally messed up [the victims’] lives by stealing their identities.”

 

According to witness testimony and the evidence admitted during trial, the conspiracy began in January 2014 and continued through May 2015. Emasealu and Prophet conspired and worked together to obtain the identities of approximately 50,000 victims located nationwide which they used to apply for debit and credit cards with various banking institutions.

 

The evidence showed that Emasealu and Prophet applied for and obtained approximately 230 debit cards using identities of other individuals. These identities were then used to apply for fraudulent tax refunds. The monies were deposited onto the debit cards that were previously created using victim identities.

 

In total, the defendants attempted to obtain approximately $1.9 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The IRS was able to stop the majority of the transactions, but Emasealu and Prophet still managed to obtain approximately $250,000 in a four-month period.

 

Prophet was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Emasealu will remain in custody.

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Secret Service and IRS – Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Searle and Douglas Davis prosecuted the case.

HOUSTON – A 34-year-old Nigerian man who was residing in Houston has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.

 

From on or about Jan. 1, 2015, through April 13, 2017, Azeez Abiodun Balogun was involved in a conspiracy that involved many schemes to defraud via the mail. In his primary scheme, Balogun used stolen personal identifying information (PII) of individuals without their permission to commit Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF). The stolen funds were then loaded onto prepaid debit cards and mailed to addresses Balogun or others controlled in the Houston areas.

 

Balogun also used the stolen PII to open bank accounts and apply for credit cards. The investigation unraveled approximately 10 different identities and passports Balogun used to open bank accounts and receive fraudulent funds. He opened approximately 30 credit card accounts at Bank of America, Chase Bank and others by using the stolen PII.

 

U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. accepted the guilty plea and has set sentencing for Jan. 19, 2018. At that time, Balogun faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy as well as an additional two years for the identity theft which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed. He could also be assessed fines of up to $250,000. He will remain in custody pending that hearing. 

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation along with Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON - Three Houston residents have been found guilty after a five-day jury trial for conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, aiding/abetting marriage fraud, marriage fraud, theft of government funds and false statements, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez along with Special Agent in Charge Mark B. Dawson of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston, District Director Tony Bryson of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) – District 33, and Special Agent in Charge Dax Roberson of U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General – Investigations.

 

The federal jury deliberated for approximately four hours before convicting Nigerian citizens Folarin H. Alabi, 35, and Justice Daniel, 41, and U.S. citizen Letrishia Andrews, 37, all of Houston, of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. Alabi was the leader of the conspiracy and also convicted of aiding and abetting marriage fraud. Daniel was further convicted of one count of marriage fraud, while the jury also convicted Andrews of aiding and abetting marriage fraud, theft of government funds and false statements related to her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications.

 

The verdicts bring to a total 11 defendants now convicted in two separate, but related, cases of marriage fraud in a scheme involving Nigerian nationals.

 

Eight others had previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme – Nigerian citizen Ifeoma Adamolekun, 40, and U.S. Citizen Charles R. Warren, 44, in the Alabi case as well as Anisha Gable, 35, Anthony Andrews, 29, Shakietha Joseph, 41 and Trevor Frenney, 41 all of Houston; and Nigerian citizens Michael Nathan, 38, and Hauwa Bello, 39, all of whom also resided in Houston.

 

A “sham” marriage is a marriage that is entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing the immigration laws. All 11 defendants conspired together in connection with a marriage fraud ring involving arranging “sham” marriages between recruited U.S. citizens and recruited Nigerian nationals. Evidence at trial revealed Alabi would search for and recruit Nigerian nationals at nightclubs.

 

The defendants would pay U.S. citizens for entering into fraudulent marriages to Nigerian nationals who had originally entered the country on tourist visas. The conspirators would then complete immigration documents and falsely submit them to CIS to obtain legal permanent resident status. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants would take staged photographs of themselves as a couple for documentation of an allegedly meaningful relationship. The conspirators also coached the recruits and/or the Nigerian nationals on what to say when questioned or interviewed by law enforcement or immigration officials about the legitimate nature of the marriages.

 

At trial, the government presented evidence that Alabi recruited Nigerian nationals, including Daniel, to enter into “sham” marriages with U.S. citizens to deceive immigration authorities and ultimately gain lawful permanent status in the Unites States. The evidence proved Daniel did knowingly marry Andrews, a U.S. citizen for the for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws of the United States. At the time of this conspiracy, Alabi and Daniel were citizens of Nigeria and had entered the U.S. temporarily on non-immigrant visas.

 

The jury also heard that Andrews submitted false SNAP applications claiming to be single, while at the same time, filing sworn immigration documents claiming to be married to Daniel.

 

The defense attempted to convince the jury that Andrews and Daniel had marital issues but were in a legitimate marriage despite all the documents and testimony to the contrary. The jury did not believe their claims and found them guilty as charged.

 

Each defendant faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine on the conspiracy and marriage fraud counts. Andrews also faces an additional five years for the false statements as well as a maximum of 10 years for theft of government funds. Sentencing is set for Aug. 3, 2017. All will remain in custody pending that hearing.

 

HSI, CIS - Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate conducted the joint investigation along with Department of Agriculture - Office of the Inspector General. The agencies work together on the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force which was established to combat these types of crimes where fraudulent representations are made to multiple government agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Bennett and Julie Searle prosecuted the case.

HOUSTON - An Indiana man was arrested yesterday in Indianapolis in connection with allegations he laundered the proceeds of an international advance-fee scheme through a used-car dealership he owned and operated. The scam allegedly involved false promises of investment funding by individuals impersonating U.S. bank officials to victims around the world, who were told they had to make certain payments before they could supposedly receive their funding. In some cases, the perpetrators allegedly met with the victims at local U.S. embassies or consulates and fabricated U.S. government documents to make the victims believe the U.S. government was sponsoring the investment agreements. Proceeds of the scheme were allegedly laundered through U.S. bank accounts and diverted back to the scheme’s perpetrators in Nigeria.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas (SDTX), Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office and Inspector General Steve A. Linick of the U.S. Department of State made the announcement.

Tochukwu Nwosisi, 47, of Indianapolis, was charged in a superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas with one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of concealment money laundering. The superseding indictment includes charges against five other individuals who were previously charged in an indictment filed in February 2018 in connection with the same scheme. Nwosisi made his initial appearance yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

According to the superseding indictment, Nwosisi owned and operated a used car dealership in Indianapolis called Indyrides LLC.  As part of his alleged involvement in the conspiracy, Nwosisi received international and domestic wire transfers from victims of the advance-fee scheme into his business bank accounts. The victims were under the impression that such payments were necessary to receive their investment funding. Nwosisi allegedly used the victims’ payments to, among other things, pay himself a portion of the funds and purchase vehicles that he then shipped to the scheme’s perpetrators in Nigeria. As banks closed his accounts for suspicious activity, Nwosisi continued to open new bank accounts to receive payments from victims.

The FBI and Department of State - Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. SDTX Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney William E. Johnston of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. SDTX AUSA Kristine Rollinson is handling the forfeiture matters.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

 

HOUSTON ‐ A man using a false identification has entered a guilty plea in a scheme to obtain a fraudulent government loan for damage sustained from Hurricane Irma, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

Oluseyi Jeremiah Olagoke Adebayo aka Jeremiah Adebayo Oluyesi, 44, a Nigerian man who illegally resided in Houston, pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with a major disaster. He admitted that from October 2017 to February 2018, he used the identification of an Orlando, Florida, resident in an attempt to obtain a fraudulent disaster home loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) in connection to Hurricane Irma.

The SBA provides long-term low-interest loans to businesses and non-profit organizations in the aftermath of a declared disaster. Loan proceeds are to be used solely for the repair or replacement of real estate, inventory, supplies, machinery and equipment damaged during a declared disaster. Hurricane Irma impacted the Gulf Coast region, including the state of Florida, and was declared a disaster in September 2017. 

Adebayo admitted he aided and abetted others in submitting an application to the SBA in October 2017 for a $118,900 home disaster loan which contained several potential fraud indicators. Further, Adebayo admitted he attempted to collect on the loan for the Florida property.

Adebayo appeared at a U.S. Post Office in Houston on Feb. 7, 2018, to obtain the fraudulent loan disbursement check. At that time, he used a counterfeit passport with the identification of the Florida resident to obtain the check. At that time, he was also found in possession of a counterfeit U.S. visa.   

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller accepted the plea and set sentencing for Aug. 16, 2018, at which time Adebayo faces up to 30 years in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. He will remain in custody pending that hearing.  

SBA-Office of Inspector General and U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Day is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 45-year-old Nigerian national previously extradited from the United Kingdom has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorneys Alamdar S. Hamdani and Dena J. King for the Southern District of Texas (SDTX) and Western District of North Carolina (WDNC), respectively.

Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo aka John Edwards and John Dayo arrived in the United States in August 2022 after he was extradited from the United Kingdom to face criminal charges brought against him by federal prosecutors in Charlotte and Houston. Adeagbo has now pleaded guilty for his criminal conduct in both cases following the transfer of the case in the U.S. District Court in the SDTX to the U.S. District Court in the WDNC.

A business email compromise scheme, also referred to as “cyber-enabled financial fraud,” is a sophisticated scam that often targets individuals, employees or businesses involved in financial transactions or that regularly perform wire transfer payments. Fraudsters are usually part of larger criminal networks operating in the United States and abroad.

There are many variations of BEC scams. Generally, the schemes involve perpetrators gaining unauthorized access to legitimate email accounts or creating email accounts that closely resemble those of individuals or employees associated with the targeted businesses or involved in business transactions with the victim businesses. The scammers then use the compromised or fake email accounts to send false wiring instructions to the targeted businesses or individuals, to dupe the victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by perpetrators of the scheme. Generally, the money is quickly transferred to other accounts in the United States or overseas.

The BEC scheme in the SDTX

According to information contained in court documents, from November 2016 until July 2018, Adeagbo conspired with others to participate in multiple cyber-enabled business email compromises in an attempt to steal more than $3 million from victim entities in Texas, including local government entities, construction companies and a Houston-area college. As with the scheme in North Carolina, Adeagbo and his co-conspirators registered domain names that looked similar to legitimate companies. They then sent emails from those domains pretending to be employees at those companies to clients or customers of the companies they impersonated and deceived those customers into sending wire payments to bank accounts the co-conspirators controlled.

The BEC scheme in the WDNC

According to filed plea documents and court proceedings, from Aug. 30, 2016, to Jan. 12, 2017, Adeagbo, his co-conspirator - Donald Ikenna Echeazu, 42, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom extradited to the United States - and others defrauded a North Carolina university (the victim university) of more than $1.9 million via a BEC scheme.

Court records show that Adeagbo and his co-conspirators obtained information about significant construction projects occurring throughout the United States, including an ongoing multimillion dollar project at the victim university. To execute the scheme, Adeagbo, Echeazu and others registered a domain name similar to that of the legitimate construction company in charge of the university’s project and created an email address that closely resembled that of an employee of the construction company. Using the fake email address, the fraudsters deceived and directed the university to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of Adeagbo and his co-conspirators. Upon receiving the payment, Adeagbo and his co-conspirators laundered the stolen proceeds through a series of financial transactions designed to conceal the fraud.

Adeagbo remains in federal custody. At sentencing, he faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison on each count. According to the plea agreements, Adeagbo will be required to pay a money judgment to be determined by the court and restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which is alleged to be at least $14,185,847.42. A sentencing date has not been set.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell in the WDNC sentenced Echeazu to 18 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release and ordered him to pay $655,408.87 in restitution for his role in the conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney King and U.S. Attorney Hamdani commended the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office for handling the North Carolina investigation and the FBI’s Houston Cyber Task Force for conducting the investigation in Texas with the assistance of the FBI’s Cyber and Criminal Investigative Divisions. They also thanked the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police Service, the City of London Police, and the Crown Prosecution Service for their substantial assistance, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for securing the arrest and extradition of Adeagbo and Echeazu.

Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Graham Billings of the WDNC in Charlotte is in charge of the prosecution. AUSA Rodolfo Ramirez of the SDTX handled the criminal proceedings in Houston, along with Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).

If you suspect you are a victim of a BEC scheme, you can file a complaint online with the FBI’s Internet Complaint Crime Complaint Cetner (IC3) at  bec.ic3.gov. The IC3 staff reviews complaints to detect patterns or other indicators of significant criminal activity for potential criminal prosecution. The FBI provides a variety of resources relating to BEC scams through the IC3, which can be located at www.ic3.gov. For more information on BEC scams, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise

 

HOUSTON – A Nigerian man who resided in Fulshear is set to appear in court on allegations he conspired to defraud over a dozen elder Americans who thought they were in romantic online relationships and sent millions to a network of fraudsters, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.  

Darlington Akporugo, 46, is scheduled for a detention hearing at 9 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison.

Akporugo allegedly conspired with Jasmin Sood, 35, also of Fulshear, to commit wire and mail fraud.

Between approximately 2015 and 2022, the fraudsters allegedly used fictitious personas and sought out and contacted elderly victims online who were often widowed. The indictment alleges they used social networking and internet dating platforms and communicated with victims using email, text message and telephone to gain their trust. The scammers would then ultimately deceive them into transferring large sums of money to various fraudster-controlled or influenced mailing addresses and bank accounts, many Akporugo and Sood owned or controlled, according to the charges.

After establishing trust with the victim online, Akporugo and Sood approached at least one victim in the Houston area in person, according to the allegations. They then allegedly drove the victim to banks for the purpose of sending money to the fraudster network, convincing her to give Akporugo control of the victim’s banking access devices.

The indictment also charges Akporugo with aggravated identity theft and fraud in connection with an access device.

The scheme allegedly resulted at least 13 victims being defrauded of an approximate $3,123,073. The indictment includes notice of forfeiture for all illegally derived proceeds from the fraud scheme.

If convicted, both face up to 30 years imprisonment for each of the wire fraud counts and conspiracy. Akporugo faces an additional 10 years on the fraud in connection with an access device and another mandatory two years if convicted of the aggravated identity theft.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace Murphy is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

HOUSTON – The victim in what has become known as the Katy Nanny case has been presented with a check for the full amount of restitution owed to her, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

“This woman now has a better chance at a fresh start,” said Patrick. “We cannot undo the mental and physical harm she has experienced as a result of what her tormenters did to her. However, what we can do is give her what she is owed and the ability to regain some financial stability.”

Sandra and Chudy Nsobundu brought the Nigerian woman here to serve as their nanny for their five children under the guise of a better life. However, during her more than two years with the couple, the victim was forced to work practically 24 hours a day, seven days a week and was subjected to verbal and physical abuse. She could not eat with the family and was forced to sleep on the floor between the beds of two minor children.

Sandra Nsobundu, 50, pleaded guilty to unlawful conduct with respect to documents in furtherance of forced labor, while her husband - Chudy Nsobundu, 58, pleaded to visa fraud. As part of their pleas, they had previously agreed to pay restitution to the victim but argued that amount should not exceed $30,000 for the entire time the woman worked for them. However, an expert with the Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division compiled an extensive report detailing the amount of wages due to the victim. Ultimately, at a hearing that concluded Jan. 5, 2018, U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas ordered the couple to pay $121,035.04 in restitution to the victim. They were also ordered to serve sentences of 14 months – seven in prison and another seven on home confinement. In addition to the restitution, Sandra Nsobundu was further ordered to pay an additional $5,000 fine per the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015. Both will also be required to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of the prison term.

In typical restitution matters, defendants are ordered to pay a set amount monthly, which is usually not set to begin until the complete the service of their sentences. In this case, the Nsobundus payments were set at a total of $500 per month. At that rate, it would have taken more than 20 years for the victim to receive full compensation. However, the FLU at the U.S. Attorney’s Office uncovered the Nsobunsu’s significant financial means and immediately worked to obtained their banking information and secure the full restitution payment with interest totaling $121,046.91.

The woman had begun working for the couple from on or about Sept. 29, 2013, through Oct. 10, 2015.

After obtaining the woman’s visa, the Nsobundus paid to transport the victim from Nigeria to the U.S. Once here, Sandra Nsobundu took the victim’s passport and copies of her bank statement. The defendants then concealed, removed and possessed the woman’s passport and visa with the intent to violate the forced labor statute. As part of their pleas, they admitted they intended to prevent and restrict, without lawful authority, the victim’s liberty and ability to move and travel in order to maintain her labor and services. 

The couple knowingly unlawfully obtained the labor and services of this woman from on or about Sept. 29, 2013, to Oct. 10, 2015. Throughout the period she worked for defendants, the victim was not permitted to have her passport or visa. The Nsobundus knowingly enacted a scheme intended to cause the woman to believe that failure to perform the labor and services would result in serious harm to her. They also threatened abuse of law and the legal process. The scheme included not paying the victim and restricting her movement to the defendants’ residence or two short walks per day around the block with the children. They also frequently yelled at, scolded and berated the victim for moving too slowly or failing to care for the children in the manner they wanted. In addition, the Nsobundus threatened to send the woman back to Nigeria if she did not comply with their labor demands.   

The Nsobundus had previously agreed to pay the victim 20,000 Nigerian nairas-$100 U.S. per month. The Nsobundus never paid the victim for any of her work here in the United States.

The victim was rescued Oct. 10, 2015, after more than two years with Nsobundus in the U.S. following a tip to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

“Labor trafficking often hides in plain sight,” said Patrick. “Suburban neighbors saw something was out of place and listened to their instincts when stories did not add up. They brought this case to light. We need the public’s help to notify law enforcement. If you see something, say something. A simple phone call ended this victim’s bondage.”

The Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) conducted the investigation. HTRA law enforcement includes members of the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Houston Police Department, sheriff’s offices in Harris and Montgomery counties, Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission, Texas Attorney General’s Office, Department of State-Diplomatic Security Service, Department of Labor, IRS and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Established in 2004, the United States Attorney’s office in Houston formed the HTRA to combine resources with federal, state and local enforcement agencies and prosecutors, as well as non-governmental service organizations to target human traffickers while providing necessary services to those that the traffickers victimized. Since its inception, HTRA has been recognized as a national model in identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking and prosecuting those engaged in trafficking offenses. In 2016, the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance received $1.5 million in federal funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office for Victims of Crime through the Enhanced Collaborative Model Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Program, which provides funding to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and provide services to victims.

Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Julie N. Searle and former AUSA Ruben R. Perez prosecuted the case. AUSA Martha Minnis and legal assistants Christina Hill, Kimmie Logan and Corey Richardson were responsible for the recovery of the restitution.

 

HOUSTON – A 34-year-old Nigerian man who illegally resided in Houston has been ordered to prison for his involvement in numerous Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. Samson Olugbenga Oyekunle pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud Oct, 6, 2017.

Today, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon ordered Oyekunle to serve 63 months in federal prison. He initially came to the United States on a student visa, but not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings following his sentence. At the hearing today, a victim spoke before the court as to how this case has devastatingly affected him and his law practice. Judge Harmon further ordered Oyekunle to pay restitution to the victims he defrauded. 

BEC fraud is a sophisticated fraud targeting businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments. The fraud is carried out by compromising legitimate business e-mail accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds. The front end fraud of these BEC schemes originates from international locations. The fraudsters will use the method most commonly associated with their victim's normal business practices and make victims believe the emails are coming from a legitimate source.   Others, such as Oyekunle, working within the conspiracy open bank accounts with counterfeit passports that are being funded with fraudulent BEC wire transfers. These domestic bank accounts are a crucial component of the fraud scheme being a success. 

From on or about Jan. 1, 2016, through February 2, 2017, Samson Oyekunle was involved in numerous BEC schemes. Co-conspirators, working outside the United States, caused funds obtained through a variety of BEC schemes to be wire transferred into the various bank accounts Oyekunle fraudulently opened.     

Oyekunle would open bank these bank accounts in or around the Houston area with counterfeit passports in order to facilitate fraud payments into these accounts. Oyekunle opened numerous bank accounts at several financial institutions including Chase Bank, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, First National Bank of Texas, and Wells Fargo Bank. 

A total of 30 fraudulent wire transfers totaling $823,765 were taken from victims across the United States under false pretenses and were deposited into these accounts.

Oyekunle has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation along with Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – The final two people in a large-scale mail theft and credit card fraud scheme have been convicted, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.Bradley Kane Zarco, 39, and Travis Castaneda Qawasmeh, 28, both of Houston, admitted to obtaining stolen U.S. mail containing new credit cards and bank statements for intended account holders. They called financial institutions to activate the stolen credit cards, increased credit limits and changed information. The stolen credit cards were used to purchase goods, services, gift cards, cash and merchandise at retail stores.Over a six-month period, they fraudulently activated at least 120 stolen credit cards and caused approximately $1 million in losses to Chase Bank.Three others had also previously pleaded guilty to the same charges - Christopher McGee, 43, and Daniel Sanchez, 37, both of Houston, and Nigerian citizen Omokehinde Muyiwa Oyegoke-Tewogbade, 64, who illegally resided in Houston.   U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen accepted the pleas and set sentencing for Aug. 11.The conspiracy charge carries a maximum five-year prison term and a potential fine of up to $1 million. McGee also admitted one count of aggravated identity theft which carries a mandatory two years in prison which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed. Sanchez has already been sentenced. He was ordered to serve 41 months in prison in February.With the exception of Qawasmeh who was permitted to remain on bond, all others have been and will remain in custody.U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Lansden is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – Two Nigerian citizens, both of whom reside in Houston, have been ordered to federal prison for perpetuating a wire fraud scheme involving various internet scams, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Idowu Olugbenga Temetan aka David Cole, 30, and Adeltilewa Olamigoke Afolabi Ikuejuyone aka Kuffour Duval, 36, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. Temetan also admitted to one count of passport forgery. 

Today, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake handed Temetan a 51-month sentence, while Ikuejuyone received a 45-month sentence yesterday. Both defendants were also held jointly and severally liable to pay $187,422.60 in restitution. As both are not U.S. citizens, each are expected to face deportation proceedings following their sentences. 

At Ikuejuyone’s sentencing, the court heard testimony from a relative of one of the victims who testified about the emotional and financial toll the defendant’s criminal actions had taken on their family. During Temetan’s sentencing hearing today, he acknowledged his mistakes and apologized to the victims for his actions. In handing down the sentences, the court noted the defendants engaged in a series of actions over an extended length of time to defraud multiple victims.

From October 2013 until March 2014, Temetan and Ikuejuyone used counterfeit passports to open bank accounts in the greater Houston area. The passports contained photographs of Temetan and Ikuejuyone but utilized the aliases of David Cole and Kuffour Duval, respectively. Both Temetan and Ikuejuyone then worked with others to lure victims into sending money into various bank accounts under their sole ownership and control. These funds were obtained through a variety of internet scams, including lottery scams and business investment scams. Checks or wire transfers were then sent from the victims’ bank accounts to accounts Temetan and Ikuejuyone controlled. Temetan, Ikuejuyone and their co-conspirators would then use the counterfeit passports to retrieve the fraudulently obtained funds.  

Law enforcement has been able to trace at least $4 million to victims, some of whom who reside in Houston, that have been affected by this scheme. The conspiracy resulted in the defrauding of one elderly victim of $3 million alone. After authorities identified this victim, they were able to trace the accounts into which the monies were being deposited. 

Temetan and Ikuejuyone will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie N. Searle and Rick Bennett prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Three Nigerian citizens were extradited from the United Kingdom (UK) and arrived in the United States in relation to their alleged participation in multimillion-dollar cyber-enabled business email compromise (BEC) fraud schemes in the Western District of North Carolina, Southern District of Texas and Eastern District of Virginia. The scams allegedly perpetrated by the defendants and their co-conspirators targeted unsuspecting victims including universities in North Carolina, Texas and Virginia, and attempted to cause more than $5 million in losses.

BEC, also known as “cyber-enabled financial fraud,” is a sophisticated scam often targeting employees with access to company finances, businesses working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments. The same criminal organizations that perpetrate BEC also exploit individual victims, often real estate purchasers, the elderly, and others, by convincing them to make wire transfers to bank accounts controlled by the criminals. This is often accomplished by impersonating a key employee or business partner after obtaining access to that person’s email account or sometimes done through romance and lottery scams. BEC scams may involve fraudulent requests for checks rather than wire transfers; they may target sensitive information such as personally identifiable information (PII) or employee tax records instead of, or in addition to, money; and they may not involve an actual “compromise” of an email account or computer network. Foreign citizens perpetrate many BEC scams. Those individuals are often members of transnational criminal organizations, which originated in Nigeria but have spread throughout the world.

Western District of North Carolina

Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo aka John Edwards and John Dayo, 43, a Nigerian citizen and UK resident, and Donald Ikenna Echeazu aka Donald Smith and Donald Dodient, 40, a dual UK and Nigerian citizen, are charged with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft for defrauding a North Carolina university (the University) of more than $1.9 million via a business email compromise scheme. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina on April 17, 2019, and was unsealed yesterday following Echeazu’s initial appearance in federal court in Charlotte.

According to allegations contained in the indictment, from Aug. 30, 2016, to Jan. 12, 2017, Adeagbo and Echeazu conspired with other individuals to obtain information about significant construction projects occurring throughout the United States, including an ongoing multi-million-dollar project at the victim University. To execute the scheme, the defendants allegedly registered a domain name similar to that of the legitimate construction company in charge of the University’s project and created an email address that closely resembled that of an employee of the construction company. Using the fake email address, the co-conspirators allegedly deceived and directed the University to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of defendants. Upon receiving the payment, the co-conspirators allegedly laundered the stolen proceeds through a series of financial transactions designed to conceal the fraud.

The wire fraud conspiracy charge and the money laundering conspiracy charge each carry a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence consecutive to any other term imposed.

The FBI Charlotte Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Billings of the Western District of North Carolina is prosecuting the case.

Southern District of Texas

Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo aka John Edwards and John Dayo, 43, a Nigerian citizen and UK resident, is also charged in the Southern District of Texas with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. A federal grand jury returned the indictment March 30, 2022, which was unsealed on Aug. 3, 2022 before he was extradited to the United States. 

From November 2016 until July 2018, Adeagbo allegedly conspired with others to participate in cyber-enabled business email compromises in an attempt to steal more than $3 million from victims in Texas, including local government entities, construction companies and a Houston-area college. The indictment alleges Adeagbo and his co-conspirators registered domain names that looked similar to legitimate companies. They then sent emails from those domains pretending to be employees at those companies, according to the charges. The conspirators allegedly sent emails to clients or customers of the companies they impersonated and deceived those customers into sending wire payments to bank accounts they controlled.

Adeagbo faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted on the charges.

The FBI Houston Cyber Task Force conducted the investigation with the assistance of the FBI Cyber and Criminal Investigative Divisions. The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and Crown Prosecution Service also provided substantial assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rodolfo Ramirez for the Southern District of Texas is prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).

Eastern District of Virginia

Olabanji Egbinola, 42, is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to a criminal complaint issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, from Sept. 26, 2018, to Dec. 26, 2018, Egbinola is alleged to have conspired with others to defraud a Virginia-based university. Egbinola and co-conspirators created and used a fraudulent email account that incorporated the name of a construction company that had a large, ongoing contract with the university. Using this email account, Egbinola and co-conspirators deceived the university into transferring $469,819.49 to a bank account controlled by Egbinola and co-conspirators. That money was quickly laundered and transferred overseas through numerous transactions. Evidence obtained during the investigation showed that Egbinola repeatedly accessed the email account used to defraud the Virginia university.

The FBI Richmond Division conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hood of for the Eastern District of Virginia is prosecuting the case.

All three defendants were arrested April 23, 2020, by UK authorities at the request of the United States and ordered extradited on Sept. 3, 2021. All three defendants filed appeals, all of which were rejected by the UK High Court on July 12, 2022.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of all three defendants.

Victims are encouraged to file a complaint online with the IC3 at bec.ic3.gov. The IC3 staff reviews complaints, looking for patterns or other indicators of significant criminal activity, and refers investigative packages of complaints to the appropriate law enforcement authorities in a particular city or region. The FBI provides a variety of resources relating to BEC scams through the IC3, which can be reached at www.ic3.gov. For more information on BEC scams, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise.

The charges contained in an indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

HOUSTON – A federal jury has convicted an Indiana man for his role in a multimillion-dollar international advance fee scheme orchestrated from Nigeria, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

The jury deliberated for 45 minutes before convicting Tochukwu Nwosisi, 52, Indianapolis, Indiana, following a six-day trial.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from February 2015 to October 2018, Nwosisi participated in an advance fee scheme involving fraudulent offers of investment funding and inheritances to victims around the world. Co-conspirators based in Nigeria induced victims to make large wire payments to bank accounts in the United States on the false belief that payment of the purported advance fees was necessary before the bank would release their funding or inheritance. Nwosisi served as a money launderer who accepted victim funds into his U.S. bank accounts and directed the proceeds to the ringleaders in Nigeria.

The jury heard that victims around the world have lost a combined total of more than $5.6 million.



“Those who enable fraudsters by helping them move and hide money taken from victims are just as responsible for their crimes as the people who run the scam themselves,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. “Nwosisi took nearly $1 million from victims to enrich himself and his co-conspirators. He deserves to face the consequences for his crimes.”



The jury convicted Nwosisi of conspiracy to commit money laundering and concealment money laundering. He will be scheduled for sentencing at a later date. At that time, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

To date, six others have been convicted for their roles in the scheme.

Nwosisi was permitted to remain on bond pending sentencing.

The FBI and Department of State - Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Latham is prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section of the Department of Justice.

HOUSTON – A 38-year-old Houston woman has been ordered to federal prison for her role in a marriage fraud ring between Nigerian nationals and U.S. citizens, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez along with Special Agent in Charge Mark B. Dawson of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston, District Director Tony Bryson of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) – District 33 and Special Agent in Charge Dax Roberson of  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General (OIG).

 

A federal jury convicted Letrishia Andrews on April 24, 2017, following a five-day trial and approximately four hours of deliberation along with Folarin H. Alabi, 35, and Justice Daniel, 42, on multiple counts to include conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, aiding/abetting marriage fraud, marriage fraud, theft of government funds and false statements.

 

“Obtaining citizenship through fraud threatens the integrity of our immigration system and disrespect's every person who played by the rules to achieve it,” said Dawson. “HSI special agents will continue to work with our partners to ensure that those who use criminal and immoral means to achieve the honor of becoming a United States citizen - will be brought to justice.”

 

Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal ordered Andrews to serve a total of 24 months in prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $5,629.00 to the Department of Agriculture. The ringleader - Alabi - was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison. He and Daniel are not U.S. citizens and expected to face deportation proceedings following their release. A total of 11 defendants have been convicted in two separate, but related, cases of marriage fraud in a scheme involving Nigerian nationals and U.S. citizens. The other eight had pleaded guilty for their respective roles - Nigerian citizen Ifeoma Adamolekun, 41, and U.S. citizen Charles R. Warren, 44, in the Alabi case as well as U.S. citizens Anisha Gable, 35, Anthony Andrews, 29, Shakietha Joseph, 42, and Trevor Frenney, 42; and Nigerians Michael Nathan, 38, and Hauwa Bello, 39. They were previously sentenced to terms ranging from probation to 12 months and a day in prison. All 11 defendants had resided in Houston.

 

A “sham” marriage is a marriage that is entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing the immigration laws. All 11 defendants conspired together in connection with a marriage fraud ring involving arranged these “sham” marriages between recruited U.S. citizens and recruited Nigerian nationals. Evidence at trial revealed Alabi would search for and recruit Nigerian nationals at nightclubs.

 

The defendants would pay U.S. citizens for entering into fraudulent marriages to Nigerian nationals who had originally entered the country on tourist visas. The conspirators would then complete immigration documents and falsely submit them to CIS to obtain legal permanent resident status. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants would take staged photographs of themselves as a couple for documentation of an allegedly meaningful relationship. The conspirators also coached the recruits and/or the Nigerian nationals on what to say when questioned or interviewed by law enforcement or immigration officials about the legitimate nature of the marriages. 

 

At trial, the government presented evidence that Alabi recruited Nigerian nationals, including Daniel, to enter into “sham” marriages with U.S. citizens to deceive immigration authorities and ultimately gain lawful permanent status in the Unites States. The evidence proved Daniel did knowingly marry Andrews, a U.S. citizen, for the for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws of the United States. At the time of this conspiracy, Alabi and Daniel were citizens of Nigeria and had entered the U.S. temporarily on non-immigrant visas.  

 

The jury also heard that Andrews submitted false SNAP applications claiming to be single, while at the same time, filing sworn immigration documents claiming to be married to Daniel.

 

The defense attempted to convince the jury that Andrews and Daniel had marital issues but were in a legitimate marriage despite all the documents and testimony to the contrary. The jury did not believe their claims and found them guilty as charged.  

 

HSI, and CIS - Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate conducted the joint investigation along with Department of Agriculture - OIG. The agencies work together on the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force which was established to combat these types of crimes in which fraudulent representations are made to multiple government agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Bennett and Julie Searle are prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 57-year-old Nigerian national has pleaded guilty for his role in a fraud conspiracy perpetrated against victims in more than 20 countries, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Uche Victor Diuno helped orchestrate a scam in which fraudsters abroad lured victims with false promises of millions in investment funding and inheritances.

Diuno and others posed as executives and employees of well-known U.S. banks to deceive victims into making payments to secure purported investment and money transfer agreements. Other members of the conspiracy then laundered these payments through U.S. bank accounts and directed them back to the scheme’s leaders in Nigeria.    

Diuno admitted he and his co-conspirators used multiple aliases to convince victims the scam was authentic. Diuno also admitted to his role in the laundering of victim funds.

Acting on instructions from the scheme’s leader, Diuno directed a co-conspirator to disburse victim funds after receiving them. This included transferring funds to other bank accounts through currency exchangers and purchasing vehicles that were shipped back to scammers in Nigeria.

From October 2014 to September 2018, Diuno and his co-conspirators caused losses of nearly $5.7 million.            

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett accepted the guilty plea and has set sentencing for May 9. At that time, Diuno faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each charge and a possible maximum fine of either $500,000 or up to twice the value of the victims’ losses.

Diuno will remain in custody pending sentencing.

The FBI and Department of State – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Latham and Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 25-year-old Nigerian man who was residing in Houston has pleaded guilty to perpetuating a wire fraud scheme involving various Internet scams, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.

 

Wiseman Oputa pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, until Jan. 25, 2017, Oputa used counterfeit passports to open bank accounts in the greater Houston area. The passports contained photographs of Oputa but had different names and identification information. He then worked with others to lure victims into sending money into these bank accounts. These funds were obtained through a variety of internet scams, including business email compromise, romance schemes and unauthorized intrusions into company email accounts. Checks or wire transfers were then sent from the company’s accounts payable to accounts Oputa or others controlled. Oputa would then use the counterfeit passports to retrieve the fraudulently obtained funds.

 

In one instance in December 2016, Oputa opened an account at Regions Bank with a counterfeit Ghanaian passport as identification. Shortly thereafter the account received a wire transfer of $40,000 from a victim who had been told to send money for taxes on money he had won in Spain. USAA Bank identified the fraudulent and was able to recal the wire.

 

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett accepted the guilty plea and has set sentencing for July 6, 2017. At that time, Oputa faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. He will remain in custody pending that hearing.

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation along with Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service and the Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 29-year-old from Nigeria who was residing in Houston has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Oriola Samuel Odulate pleaded guilty Jan. 26, 2017, to conspiracy to steal public money.

 

Today, U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced him to 24 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $268,017 in restitution to the IRS.

 

Odulate and other unknown coconspirators defrauded the government by filing false and fraudulent income tax returns. Co-conspirators unlawfully acquired the personal identifying information (PII) of others such as names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses. They then used the unlawfully acquired PII to file fraudulent tax returns that requested refunds in the names of the victims.

 

The IRS sent refunds to bank accounts that Odulate opened and controlled. He received the money from the unlawful refunds, withdrew it from his bank account and then distributed the funds to co-conspirators.

 

IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 34-year-old Nigerian man who was residing in Houston has been ordered to prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Azeez Abiodun Balogun pleaded guilty Oct. 27, 2017.

Today, U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. handed Balogun a 75-month sentence. Not a U.S. citizen, Balogun is expected to face deportation proceedings following the sentence. At the hearing, the court noted that this was a sophisticated scheme that began in 2015 and that he only stopped when he caught.

From on or about Jan. 1, 2015, through April 13, 2017, Balogun was involved in a conspiracy that involved many schemes to defraud via the U.S. mail and using personal identifying information (PII) of individuals without their permission.

He would open bank accounts with counterfeit passports in order to facilitate fraud payments into these accounts. Balogun would then use the stolen PII to apply for credit cards. He opened approximately 30 credit card accounts at Bank of America, Chase Bank and others by using the stolen information.

Additionally, he also engaged in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) in which he would use the stolen PII to apply for tax refunds. The stolen funds were then loaded onto prepaid debit cards and mailed to addresses Balogun or others controlled in the Houston area.  

The investigation unraveled approximately 10 different identities and passports Balogun used to open bank accounts and receive fraudulent funds from the various his schemes. The total loss attributed to his conduct is $2,976,265.

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.  

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation along with Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting the case.

A Nigerian national pleaded guilty recently to operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded elderly and vulnerable consumers across the United States.According to court documents, Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, 41, was a member of a group of fraudsters that sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States over the course of several years.  The letters falsely claimed that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died overseas years before. Akhimie and his co-conspirators allegedly told a series of lies to victims, including that, before they could receive their purported inheritance, they were required to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and other payments to avoid questioning from government authorities. Akhimie and his co-conspirators allegedly collected money victims sent in response to the fraudulent letters through a complex web of U.S.-based former victims, whom the defendants convinced to receive money and forward to the defendants or persons associated with them. Victims who sent money never received any purported inheritance funds.  In pleading guilty, Akhimie admitted to defrauding over $6 million from more than 400 victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable.“The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will continue to pursue, prosecute and bring to justice transnational criminals responsible for defrauding U.S. consumers, wherever they are located,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This case is testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime. I want to thank the members of the Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service of the United Kingdom for their outstanding contributions to this case.” “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting American consumers from being defrauded by Transnational Criminal Organizations,” said Acting Postal Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Division.  “We have long partnered with the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch to deliver justice and we will continue to do so.”“Transnational fraud schemes thrive in the shadows, turning illicit gains into a facade of legitimacy, especially those involving seniors or other vulnerable people,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ray Rede for HSI Arizona. “HSI and our law enforcement partners commitment to investigate criminals who steal money sends a clear message: justice will prevail, and those who exploit others for personal gain will be held accountable. We thank all our partners who assisted in this investigation.”On June 17, Akhimie pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Akhimie faces a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment.This is the second indicted case related to this international fraud scheme. Seven other co-conspirators from the United Kingdom, Spain, and Nigeria have previously been convicted and sentenced in connection with this scheme. On Nov. 1, 2023, the Honorable Kathleen M. Williams sentenced Ezennia Peter Neboh, who was extradited from Spain, to 128 months of imprisonment. On Oct. 20, 2023, Judge Williams sentenced another defendant who was also extradited from Spain, Kennedy Ikponmwosa, to 97 months of imprisonment. Three other defendants who were extradited from the United Kingdom also received prison sentences. Judge Williams sentenced Emmanuel Samuel, Jerry Chucks Ozor, and Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham to prison sentences of 82 months, 87 months, and 90 months, respectively, for their roles in the scheme.  Amos Prince Okey Ezemma was paroled into the United States from Nigeria and was sentenced in July 2024 to 90 months imprisonment for his role in the scheme. Lastly, on April 25, the Honorable Roy K. Altman sentenced Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, who was extradited from Portugal, to 97 months of incarceration for his role in the scheme.   USPIS, HSI, and the Consumer Protection Branch are investigating the case. Senior Trial Attorney and Transnational Criminal Litigation Coordinator Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Josh Rothman of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, and authorities from the UK, Spain, and Portugal all provided critical assistance.If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.More information about the Department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov/  or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.

HOUSTON – A 29-year-old Nigerian man who was residing in Houston has pleaded guilty to perpetuating a wire fraud scheme involving various Internet scams, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Idowa Olugbenga Temetan aka David Cole pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud.

 

From October 2013 until March 2014, Temetan used counterfeit passports to open bank accounts in the greater Houston area. The passports contained photographs of Temetan but utilized the alias of David Cole. He then worked with others to lure victims into sending money into these bank accounts. These funds were obtained through a variety of internet scams, including lottery scams and business investment scams. Checks or wire transfers were then sent from the victims’ bank accounts to accounts Temetan or others controlled. Temetan and his co-conspirators would then use the counterfeit passports to retrieve the fraudulently obtained funds. 

 

Law enforcement has been able to trace at least $4 million to victims, some of whom who reside in Houston, that have been affected by this scheme. Temetan defrauded one victim of $3 million alone. After authorities identified this victim, they were able to trace the accounts into which the monies were being deposited. 

 

Authorities arrested Temetan in Las Vegas, Nevada, while he was withdrawing cash from the account.  Upon his arrest, law enforcement also obtained a fraudulent passport he was using under the name of David Cole.

 

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake accepted the guilty plea and has set sentencing for Feb. 2, 2018. At that time, Temetan faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a possible $1 million maximum fine. Temetan is in custody pending that hearing. 

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie N. Searle is prosecuting the case.

HOUSTON – A 45-year-old dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction in a wire fraud conspiracy involving two districts, announced U.S. Attorneys Alamdar S. Hamdani and Dena J. King for the Southern District of Texas (SDTX) and Western District of North Carolina (WDNC), respectively. Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo aka John Edwards and John Dayo arrived in the United States in August 2022 following his extradition from the United Kingdom to face criminal charges filed in SDTX and WDNC. He pleaded guilty April 8 for his criminal conduct in both cases. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina has now ordered Adeagbo to serve a total of 84 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. The court also ordered him to pay $942,655.03 in restitution to the victims. “Adeagbo ran a sophisticated 21st century cyber-criminal operation hiding behind fake email accounts and anonymous internet addresses to steal from the innocent, a crime as old as time itself,” said Hamdani. “Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams have become an epidemic with individuals and businesses suffering debilitating financial losses, while eroding society’s trust in digital communications and undermining overall economic stability. That’s why prosecutors and agents in two jurisdictions worked tirelessly to identify Adeagbo and reach across the Atlantic to bring him to justice.”    “BEC schemes, like the one perpetrated by Adeagbo and his co-conspirators, are sophisticated and devastating crimes that target the trust businesses and institutions place in their daily operations,” said King. “By exploiting this trust, fraudsters steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting victims. This case demonstrates the commitment of my office and our law enforcement partners to pursue justice for those impacted by these schemes and to hold cybercriminals accountable, regardless of where they are operating from.”"Oludayo Adeagbo and his coconspirators perpetrated transnational cyber-enabled fraud schemes that targeted schools, government entities, and companies across the United States, and caused millions of dollars in losses,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Adeagbo’s extradition, plea, and sentencing underscore the Criminal Division’s commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to pursue cybercriminals who target American victims, no matter where that pursuit leads. We are especially grateful to the Government of the United Kingdom for its assistance in this case.” "Oludayo Adeagbo thought he was pretty slick stealing other people’s money via this scam. His victims, however, strongly disagreed,” said FBI Executive Assistant Director Michael Nordwall. “Instead of enjoying the fruits of his illegal labors, Adeagbo will now be spending time in a federal prison. The BEC is one of the fastest growing and most costly scams and the only way to fight it is through cooperation, often international cooperation, and this case is a prime example of partnerships working.”A BEC scheme, also referred to as “cyber-enabled financial fraud,” is a sophisticated scam that often targets individuals, employees or businesses involved in financial transactions or that regularly perform wire transfer payments. Fraudsters are usually part of larger criminal networks operating in the United States and abroad. There are many variations of BEC scams. Generally, the schemes involve perpetrators gaining unauthorized access to legitimate email accounts or creating email accounts that closely resemble those of individuals or employees associated with the targeted businesses or involved in business transactions with the victim businesses. The scammers then use the compromised or fake email accounts to send false wiring instructions to the targeted businesses or individuals, to dupe the victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by perpetrators of the scheme. Generally, the money is quickly transferred to other accounts in the United States or overseas. The Texas BEC Scheme From November 2016 until July 2018, Adeagbo conspired with others to participate in multiple cyber-enabled business email compromises in an attempt to steal more than $3 million from victim entities in Texas, including local government entities, construction companies and a Houston-area college. Adeagbo and his co-conspirators registered domain names that looked similar to legitimate companies. They then sent emails from those domains pretending to be employees at those companies to clients or customers of the companies they impersonated and deceived those customers into sending wire payments to bank accounts the co-conspirators controlled.The North Carolina BEC Scheme From Aug. 30, 2016, to Jan. 12, 2017, Adeagbo and others defrauded a North Carolina university of more than $1.9 million via a BEC scheme. Adeagbo and his co-conspirators obtained information about significant construction projects occurring throughout the United States, including an ongoing multimillion-dollar project at the victim university. To execute the scheme, Adeagbo and others registered a domain name similar to that of the legitimate construction company in charge of the university’s project and created an email address that closely resembled that of an employee of the construction company. Using the fake email address, the fraudsters deceived and directed the university to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account someone working under the direction of Adeagbo and his co-conspirators controlled. Upon receiving the payment, Adeagbo and his co-conspirators laundered the stolen proceeds through a series of financial transactions designed to conceal the fraud.Co-conspirator Donald Ikenna Echeazu, 42, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom extradited to the United States, was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release and was ordered to pay $655,408.87 in restitution for his role in the conspiracy.   Adeagbo will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The FBI’s Houston Cyber Task Force and Charlotte Field Office conducted the investigation with assistance of the FBI’s Cyber and Criminal Investigative Divisions. The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and Crown Prosecution Service also provided substantial assistance. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs helped secure the arrest and extradition. SDTX Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Rodolfo Ramirez prosecuted the case along with WDNC AUSA Graham Billings and Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.If you suspect you are a victim of a BEC scheme, you can file a complaint online with the FBI’s Internet Complaint Crime Complaint Cetner (IC3) at  bec.ic3.gov. The IC3 staff reviews complaints to detect patterns or other indicators of significant criminal activity for potential criminal prosecution. The FBI provides a variety of resources relating to BEC scams through the IC3, which can be located at www.ic3.gov. For more information on BEC scams, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise.

AUSTIN, Texas – A Nigerian national residing in Canada and a Dallas woman operating a marketing leads business were sentenced in Austin on Thursday for their roles in a fraudulent “sweepstakes” scheme that sent more than $250 million in counterfeit checks with fraudulent lottery award letters to elderly U.S. victims.

Tony Akinbobola, 52, of Toronto, Ontario, was sentenced to 78 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.  According to court documents, Akinbobola laundered money for the scheme beginning in 2015, receiving fraudulently obtained funds by way of wire transfers and money orders from the U.S., which he would deposit into a Canadian bank account in the name of his business.  Investigators have identified at least 300 victims, all over the age of 60, sustaining a total of more than $1 million in actual losses with intended losses of more than $9.5 million.  Akinbobola was arrested in Canada on Jan. 20, 2022 and was transferred to federal custody on Feb. 11, 2022, where he has remained since.  He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering on Sept. 30, 2022.   In addition to spending more than six years in federal prison, Akinbobola was ordered to pay $111,870.25 in restitution. 

Donna Lundy, 64, of Dallas, was sentenced to 30 months and ordered to pay $111,870.25 in restitution for wire fraud.  Lundy owned and operated a lead broker business near Dallas, through which she purchased people’s names and contact information to sell to customers.  Lundy sold and emailed numerous lists containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII) of elderly people to the scheming organization’s leader, Harry Cole, making more than $700,000 from him between 2007 and 2016.  She pleaded guilty to the charge in January 2019.  Cole was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison in February 2022.  Another co-defendant, Joel Calvin, was sentenced to three years in December 2022.

The scheme ran from 2012 to 2016 and involved purchasing lists of potential elderly victims and their mailing addresses.  Organization members based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada sent packages containing fraudulent sweepstakes information to conspirators residing in the U.S.  The packages contained thousands of mailers to be mailed to victims notifying them that they had won a sweepstakes.  Each mailer included a fraudulent check issued to the name of the victim, usually in the amount of $8,000, and a pre-addressed envelope.

Victims were instructed to deposit the check into their bank account, then immediately withdraw between $5,000 and $7,000 in cash or money orders and send the money to a “sweepstakes representative” to facilitate the collection of the prize.  By the time the bank notified the victim that the deposited check was fraudulent, the victim would have already sent the cash or money order to the defendants or conspirators.

“I applaud the hard work of the investigating agencies in bringing these defendants to justice—and thank Canadian authorities and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs for their help in the extradition of Akinbobola,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “This case demonstrates my office's commitment to hold all those responsible for defrauding our senior citizens. Whether supplying the personal information and addresses of elderly citizens or assisting the scam by laundering funds in Canada, our office will pursue all of those that enable these vicious scams to steal from our seniors.”

“This sentence reaffirms HSI’s commitment to working with global law enforcement partners to disrupt transnational financial fraud syndicates,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio Division.  “HSI is uniquely positioned to combat criminal organizations that exploit the U.S. financial networks by utilizing our expansive criminal and administrative authorities.”

“Tony Akinbobola and his co-conspirators devised a scheme that targeted and took advantage of one of our country’s most vulnerable populations, senior citizens,” said Inspector in Charge Scott Fix of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Houston Division.  “The USPIS remains resolute in our mission to bring to justice those who fraudulently use the U.S. Mail in the furtherance of their deceptive schemes.  Postal Inspectors will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners, including HSI and IRS-CI, to ensure these individuals are held accountable.”

“Lundy and Akinbobola were part of a criminal enterprise that operated both within and outside the U.S. while preying on innocent victims located here.  Now the two will pay for their crimes serving time in a U.S. prison,” said Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office.  “This investigation shows our special agents will continue to fight for justice to be served for victims of fraud and other financial crimes, and the criminals who orchestrate such crimes, even internationally, are not out of our reach.”

HSI, the USPIS and IRS-CI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Galdo and Keith Henneke prosecuted the case. Attorneys with the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted with extraditions from Canada.

###

Today, federal authorities arrested three individuals indicted in connection with a multi-million dollar Austin-based Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) scheme announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr.; Special Agent in Charge William Cotter, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Houston Division; and, Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Antonio Division.

 

Authorities arrested 54–year-old Nigerian National George Najomo in Austin; and, 36-year-old Sudan National Ibrahim Alu and 40-year-old Sudan National George Ismail in Grand Prairie, TX.  Authorities are still looking to arrest 44-year-old Nigerian National Dele Akanbi (aka “SK”).  A warrant has been issued for Akanbi’s arrest.

 

A ten-count federal grand jury indictment, unsealed this afternoon, charges all four defendants with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.  All but Akanbi are also charged with one count of theft of public money.   Alu and Ismael are also charged with one count of wire fraud. 

 

The indictment alleges that from January 2013 through April 2016, the defendants conspired to use stolen Personal Identification Information (PII) to commit fraud.  According to the indictment, the defendants, while operating a cleaning business in Austin, stole hundreds of patient forms and other paperwork from multiple medical facilities in the Austin area.  The defendants then used that stolen information, as well as stolen PII from other unknown sources, to obtain credit cards and file numerous fraudulent income tax returns seeking over $3,000,000 in refunds from the IRS.  The indictment alleges that the defendants collected over $630,000 in fraudulent Income Tax Return refunds and close to $17,000 from fraudulent credit card transactions.

 

Upon conviction, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy charge; up to 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud; up to ten years for theft of public money; and, a mandatory two years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft.   

 

Agents from the IRS-CI, USPIS and HSI conducted this investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael C. Galdo and Gregg N. Sofer are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government. 

 

It is important to note that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

In Austin today, a federal judge sentenced a Nigerian National residing in Austin to 78 months in federal prison for laundering more than $1.7 Million in Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam proceeds stolen from multiple companies, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Antonio; and, Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Houston Division

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered that 28-year-old Joseph Odibobhahemen pay $1,639,419.57 in restitution; pay a $1.5 million money judgment; and, be placed on supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term.

In a BEC scheme, scammers target businesses and individuals making wire transfer payments, often targeting employees with access to company finances. The scammers trick the employees into making wire transfer payments to bank accounts thought to belong to trusted partners—except the money ends up in accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Sometimes the scammers use computer intrusion techniques to alter legitimate payment request emails, changing the recipient bank accounts. Sometimes they send spoofed emails from email addresses similar to the real email accounts used by trusted partners.

On February 7, 2019, Odibobhahemen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.  Odibobhahemen’s co-defendant in this indictment, Nosa Onaghise, pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud on December 28, 2018.  Onaghise, another Nigerian citizen residing in Austin, admitted to attempting to use a false, forged or counterfeit passport to open several bank accounts in the U.S. in April 2018.  Onaghise faces up to ten years in federal prison.  He remains in federal custody pending sentencing scheduled for 10:00am on February 19, 2020, before Judge Pitman.

Court records in this indictment (A18cr358), and the indictment also returned in Austin against four other coconspirators (A19cr78), show that between November 2016 and April 2019, over $10 million was allegedly sent by victims to accounts controlled by the conspirators, who were able to take in excess of $6 million before law enforcement or financial institutions stopped the fraudulent transfers. Odibobhahemen and the others acquired or controlled dozens of bank accounts opened in the U.S., including in Austin, utilizing fraudulent identification documents, including fraudulent foreign passports in fake names.  Once the funds were fraudulently procured and deposited into these bogus accounts, the defendants worked quickly to withdraw or transfer the funds.

The four additional co-conspirators—Bameyi Omale, Chinonso Agbaji, Igho Calaba and Chibuzor Uba—have all pleaded guilty and await sentencing on January 30, 2020.

“This sentencing serves as a real warning to those who use deception to victimize our citizens while defrauding the financial system for personal gain,” said Shane Folden, special agent in charge for HSI San Antonio. “HSI is committed to pursuing thieves such as Mr. Odibobhahemen who brazenly enrich themselves through fraud. HSI will continue to utilize its broad investigative authorities to dismantle transnational criminal organizations who blatantly ignore the laws of this nation.”

Special agents with HSI and USPIS investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Galdo and Keith Henneke are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.

In Austin this afternoon, a federal judge sentenced a Nigerian National formerly residing in Houston to 135 months in federal prison for his role in laundering millions derived from Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Antonio; and, Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Houston Division.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered that 32-year-old Bameyi Kelvin Omale pay $5,378,292.03 in restitution. 

“At DOJ we take cyber-theft extremely seriously, and we work tirelessly to protect our economy from sophisticated criminal schemes that target American businesses and consumers,” stated U.S. Attorney Bash.

“Today’s sentencing highlights HSI’s commitment to imposing consequences on cybercriminals, no matter who they are or where they are,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Folden.  “The vast scope of this criminal scheme had a devastating effect on businesses, consumers and financial institutions.  HSI is uniquely positioned to investigate and mitigate weaknesses within the U.S. financial, trade, and transportation sector that can be exploited by transnational criminal networks.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to defending the nation’s mail system from illegal use,” stated USPIS Inspector in Charge Gonzalez.  “The sentence handed down today will send a clear message to those criminals who decide to use the U.S. mail in furtherance of their deceptive schemes.  Postal Inspectors will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and bring them to justice.”

On September 24, 2019, Omale pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.  Prior to Omale, three of his four co-defendants–Chinonso Agbaji, a 30-year-old resident of Houston; Igho Calaba, a 26-year-old resident of Austin; and Chibuzor Stanley Uba, a 31-year-old resident of San Antonio–also pleaded guilty to the same charge.  Last month, Judge Pitman sentenced: Agbaji to 78 months in federal prison; Uba to 36 months in federal prison; and, Calaba to 30 months in federal prison.

The fourth co-defendant, Nnamdi Nwosu, a 33-year-old resident of Houston, is charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to launder money instruments and one count of passport fraud in furtherance of the money laundering conspiracy.  Nwosu remains a fugitive in this case.

Two other defendants involved in this scheme have also pleaded guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced.  In December, Judge Pitman sentenced Joseph Odibobhahemen, a 29-year-old resident of Austin who pleaded guilty to the same money laundering conspiracy charge, to 78 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $1,639,419.57 in restitution.  Judge Pitman is scheduled to sentence the final defendant, Nosa Onaghise, next week.  In December 2018, the 33-year-old resident of Austin, pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud in furtherance of the money laundering conspiracy. As alleged in court documents, they were acting as part of the same scheme to launder funds from BEC fraud. 

According court records, the funds were largely derived from BEC schemes perpetrated against U.S. and foreign victims. Over $10 million was allegedly sent by victims to accounts controlled by the defendants, who were able to take in excess of $3 million before law enforcement or financial institutions stopped the fraudulent transfers.  In a BEC scheme, scammers target businesses and individuals making wire transfer payments, often targeting employees with access to company finances. The scammers trick the employees into making wire transfer payments to bank accounts thought to belong to trusted partners—except the money ends up in accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Sometimes the scammers use computer intrusion techniques to alter legitimate payment request emails, changing the recipient bank accounts. Sometimes they send spoofed emails from email addresses similar to trusted partners.

Whatever the BEC method used, the scammers need bank accounts controlled by coconspirators to collect the stolen money. The indictment alleges that the conspirators acquired or controlled dozens of bank accounts opened in the U.S., including in Austin, TX, utilizing fraudulent identification documents, including fraudulent foreign passports in fake names.  The indictment alleges that once the funds were fraudulently procured and deposited into these bogus accounts, the defendants worked quickly to withdraw or transfer the funds.

The indictment further alleges that some of the conspirators also received funds sent by the victims of romance fraud.

This indictment resulted from a continuing investigation by HSI and USPIS.  The FBI also assisted in the investigation as did the California Highway Patrol. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Texas and the Southern District of New York also provided assistance.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Galdo and Keith Henneke are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Nnamdi Nwosu is asked to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  ICE encourages the public to report any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Money laundering conspiracy calls for up to 20 years in federal prison upon conviction; passport fraud calls for up to 10 years in federal prison upon conviction.

It is important to note that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt.  Nwosu is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

AUSTIN, Texas – A dual Nigerian and Canadian citizen was sentenced today in federal court in Austin to 87 months imprisonment, ordered to pay more than $1.67 million in restitution, and forfeited a $2 million money judgment for his role in a conspiracy to commit fraud.

According to court documents, Ejiro Efevwerha aka Festus Akpobonme, 47, facilitated laundering the proceeds of fraud by connecting launderers in the U.S. to fraudsters located overseas.  The conspiracy used a network of individuals in the U.S. to receive victim money in U.S. bank accounts, often opened under fraudulent names, and transferred those funds to co-conspirators inside and outside of the U.S.

The types of fraud used against the victims over more than three years included grandchildren-in-jail scams, romance scams, inheritance scams, lottery scams and investment scams, among others.  Investigators identified a total victim loss of more than $3.9 million in fraud proceeds from hundreds of victims laundered by the conspiracy.  Efevwerha was extradited from Canada to the Western District of Texas in July 2021.  He pleaded guilty on Oct. 19, 2022.

“This case is another example of our dedication to bring fraudsters to justice, whether they are inside the United States or attempting to hide overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas.  “The scams perpetrated and facilitated by this conspiracy prey on our most vulnerable citizens.  I commend the work of our law enforcement partners who help hold accountable both those who commit fraud and those that help fraudsters hide their profits.”

“This judgment shows HSI’s success in protecting our nation’s seniors and communities from fraud by malicious actors overseas,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of the Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Division.  “Fraudulent schemes of any kind are disgraceful, especially when they target vulnerable populations. HSI will continue to work with our international partners and other law enforcement agencies to put an end to these transnational criminal organizations.”

“Efevwerha provided a pivotal role in facilitating the movement of victim funds from the U.S. to other countries. The scheme targeted innocent people, many elderly, for millions of dollars. These are kind hearted people, but now they will never forget how their kindness was taken advantage of,” said Special Agent in Charge Ramsey E. Covington of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) sHouston Field Office.  “We can’t heal the damage he and the other criminals did to the victims and their families, but we helped bring justice, and hopefully some peace of mind. This is what our special agents and the prosecutors they partner with do, and I hope it sends a message to anyone thinking about committing fraud in the future.”

Co-defendant Ochuko Sylvester Eruotor pleaded guilty after being extradited to the Western District of Texas from Germany and was sentenced in July 2018 to 168 months in federal prison for his role in the multi-million-dollar fraud and money laundering schemes. The other seven co-defendants sentenced received a combined 446 months in prison and were ordered to pay restitution.

Law enforcement is continuing its search for a co-conspirator who remains a fugitive of this case.  If you know the whereabouts of Ejovwoke Mark Egorho, please contact the HSI Tip Line at 866-347-2423.

HSI and IRS-CI investigated the case with the help of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Toronto Police Service and Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Galdo prosecuted the case.

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