Nigerian Man Bags Eight-Year Jail In US Over $6million Fraud Involving 400 Victims
Victims were misled into sending money —supposedly for taxes, legal fees, and other charges — to secure the bogus inheritance.
A36-year-old Nigerian national, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has been sentenced to 97 months in prison in the United States for orchestrating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that swindled over $6million from more than 400 victims, many of them elderly and vulnerable.
The U.S. Department of Justice disclosed Ogbata’s sentencing in a statement, revealing that the fraud spanned several years and involved deceptive letters purporting to come from a bank in Spain.
According to court documents, Ogbata and his co-conspirators sent personalized letters to elderly Americans, falsely claiming that the recipients were heirs to multimillion-dollar estates left by deceased overseas relatives.
Victims were misled into sending money —supposedly for taxes, legal fees, and other charges — to secure the bogus inheritance.
The fraud ring used a network of intermediaries in the United States, including former victims turned money mules, to receive and forward the illicit payments. None of the victims received the promised inheritance.
Ogbata pleaded guilty to the charges and admitted to playing a central role in defrauding Americans out of more than $6 million.
“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 Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov M. Roth of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“This case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime. I want to thank our U.S. law enforcement partners, as well as those who assisted across the globe, including the Portuguese Judicial Police and Public Prosecution Service of Portugal, for their outstanding contributions to this case.”
According to U.S. Attorney, Hayden P. Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, “The long arm of the American justice system has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation’s most vulnerable populations, to include the elderly.
“We will not allow transnational criminals to steal money from the public we serve. Individuals who defraud American consumers will be brought to justice, no matter where they are located.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) has a long history of protecting American citizens from these types of schemes and bringing those responsible to justice,” said Acting Postal Inspector in Charge Steven Hodges of the USPIS Miami Division.
“Today’s sentencing is a testament to the dedicated partnership between the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch, HSI and USPIS to protect our citizens from these scams.”
Special Agent in Charge Fransisco B. Burrola of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Arizona stated, “It’s inconceivable to imagine any human being robbing from those who’ve spent a lifetime working and building a life, and then are duped out of it all.
“Together, with our law enforcement partners, we will not tolerate this kind of behavior – we will bring justice to those who have wronged and stolen from so many people.”
Senior Trial Attorney and Transnational Criminal Litigation Coordinator Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorneys Josh Rothman and Brianna Gardner of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. USPIS and HSI investigated the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Europol, and authorities from the UK, Spain, and Portugal all provided critical assistance.
