A district court in Florida, United States, has charged a Nigerian national Okezie Ogbata, for defrauding about 400 people to the tune of $6m.
Ogbata was found guilty of operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme to dupe elderly US citizens.
The Department of Justice stated that 36-year-old Ogbata and his partners in the fraud scheme told their victims to send money for taxes and other forms of payment to avoid government officials.
“Ogbata and his accomplices sent letters falsely claiming 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,” the Department of Justice said.
Ogbata pleaded guilty to the charges of defrauding over 400 people and has earned about $6m.
He would be sentenced on April 14, 2025, and faces over 20 years behind bars.
Head, of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, General Brian Boynton, said, “This case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime.”
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