Names of 5 Nigerians Behind $45m United States Scam, “You Cannot Victimise Americans”
- A United States federal court has convicted five Nigerian men of defrauding many American citizens
- The Nigerians are convicted over criminal ventures like romance scams, COVID-19 unemployment relief, and business email compromise
- The full names and addresses of the five criminal syndicates who risk long prison terms have been released
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
United States - Five Nigerians have been convicted in the United States for defrauding Americans with romance scams, COVID-19 unemployment relief, and business email compromise.
The convicted Nigerians are involved in fake online romances targeting lonely hearts, pandemic unemployment insurance scams.
Source: Getty Images
The criminal gang also preyed on a global tragedy and sophisticated email hacks that drained U.S. businesses.
As reported by PM News, a U.S. federal jury in Puerto Rico convicted the fifth defendant, Oluwasegun Baiyewu of Richmond, Texas.
The 37-year-old was convicted after a marathon 22-day trial.
Baiyewu joins his fellow conspirators:
- 40-year-old Oluwaseun Adelekan of Staten Island, New York
- 40-year-old Temitope Omotayo Staten Island, New York
- 37-year-old Ifeoluwa Dudubo of Austin, Texas,
- 37-year-old Temitope Suleiman of Richmond, Texas
The U.S. prosecutors said the Nigerians ran hundreds of financial transactions. The syndicates “wash” the loot by buying used cars and shipping them back to Nigeria in a cynical attempt to convert fraud into flashy wealth.
The convicted Nigerians will now face sentencing before Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach of the District of Puerto Rico, where they risk long prison terms.
According to the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Nigerian criminals are “key service providers” for cyber scammers. They warned that the game is up for anyone who thinks they can hide in the shadows of the internet.
The Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the U.S. Justice Department declared that:
“This conviction is a message to transnational organized crime groups and their accomplices: you cannot victimize Americans with impunity.”
Reacting to the conviction of the syndicates, the U.S. Attorney for Puerto Rico, Stephen Muldrow, said:
“The defendants lined their pockets by defrauding vulnerable members of our society. Justice will prevail.”
Source: UGC
US court sends Nigerian monarch to prison
Recall that Nigerian traditional ruler, Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun state, Oba Joseph Oloyede, was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment in the United States.
Oba Oloyede was said to have created and led a scheme that defrauded over $4.2 million from the federal loan and grant programmes.
The US court filed three-count charges against the traditional ruler, according to the office of the US Attorney in the Northern District of Ohio.
3 Nigerians jailed by US court over N2 billion fraud
In a similar story, Legit.ng reported that the United States district court in Michigan sentenced three Nigerians to prison for their involvement in a $2 million wire fraud scheme targeting elderly individuals.
The defendants conspired with individuals in Nigeria to defraud US residents using false online personas and voice-over-Internet-Protocol numbers.
The court imposed various prison terms and probation on the defendants, who received over $2 million from the scheme between 2017 and 2022.
Source: Legit.ng
