Two Nigerian Nationals Previously Extradited from the United Kingdom Plead Guilty to International Fraud Scheme that Defrauded Elderly U.S. Victims

FraudsWatch.com
Fraud and Scam News, Examples and Guidelins

<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br &sol;>&NewLine; Wednesday&comma; May 31&comma; 2023<br &sol;>&NewLine; Two Nigerian Nationals Previously Extradited from the United Kingdom Plead Guilty to International Fraud Scheme that Defrauded Elderly U&period;S&period; Victims<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Two Nigerian nationals who were extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom pleaded guilty to operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to court documents&comma; Jerry Chucks Ozor&comma; 43&comma; and Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham&comma; 44&comma; were part of a group of fraudsters that sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States&comma; 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 years before in Spain&period; Victims were told that before they could receive their purported inheritance&comma; they were required to send money for delivery fees&comma; taxes&comma; and payments to avoid questioning from government authorities&period; Victims sent money to the defendants through a complex web of U&period;S&period;-based former victims&period; The defendants convinced these former victims to receive money from new victims and then forward the fraud proceeds to others &lpar;thereby serving as so-called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;money mules”&rpar;&period; In pleading guilty&comma; the defendants admitted to defrauding over &dollar;6 million from more than 400 victims&comma; many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue&comma; prosecute&comma; and secure the convictions of transnational criminals responsible for defrauding U&period;S&period; consumers&comma; wherever they are located&period; I thank the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency for its extensive efforts in helping to ensure that these defendants are held accountable here in the United States&comma;” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M&period; Boynton&comma; head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Justice Department and U&period;S&period; law enforcement will continue to work closely with law enforcement partners across the globe to bring to justice criminals who attempt to defraud U&period;S&period; victims from outside the United States&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The U&period;S&period; Postal Inspection Service &lpar;USPIS&rpar; has a long tradition of protecting American citizens from these types of schemes and bringing those responsible to justice&comma;” said Postal Inspector in Charge Juan A&period; Vargas of the USPIS Miami Division&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;These guilty pleas are a testament to the dedicated partnership between the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch&comma; Homeland Security Investigations &lpar;HSI&rpar;&comma; and the U&period;S&period; Postal Inspection Service to protect our citizens from these scams&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;These guilty pleas are a result of the unwavering commitment and countless hours spent by HSI and our law enforcement partners to ensure that this investigation led the extradition of the two Nigerian nationals&comma;” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Brown of HSI Arizona&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that targets the elderly is not only morally reprehensible&comma; it also undermines the <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"1004">financial<&sol;a> systems we use and depend upon&period; I thank everyone who worked on this case&period; These two defendants are one step closer to facing much-deserved prison time&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On May 18&comma; Ozor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud&period; Abraham pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud earlier today&period; Ozor is scheduled to be sentenced by U&period;S&period; District Judge Kathleen M&period; Williams on July 27&period; Judge Williams will sentence Abraham on Aug&period; 9&period; Both defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Consumer Protection Branch&comma; USPIS&comma; and HSI are investigating the case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorneys Josh Rothman and Brianna Gardner of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case&period; The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs&comma; the U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida&comma; Europol&comma; and authorities from the U&period;K&period;&comma; Spain&comma; and Portugal all provided critical assistance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud&comma; help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline&colon; 1-833-FRAUD-11 &lpar;1-833-372-8311&rpar;&period; This Justice Department hotline&comma; managed by the Office for Victims of Crime&comma; is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps&period; Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies&comma; provide information to callers to assist them in reporting&comma; connect callers directly with appropriate agencies&comma; and provide resources and referrals&comma; on a case-by-case basis&period; Reporting is the first step&period; 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&period; The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10&colon;00 a&period;m&period; to 6&colon;00 p&period;m&period; ET&period; English&comma; Spanish and other languages are available&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage&period; For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts&comma; visit its website at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;consumer-protection-branch" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;consumer-protection-branch<&sol;a>&period; Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ftccomplaintassistant&period;gov&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">www&period;ftccomplaintassistant&period;gov<&sol;a> or at 877-FTC-HELP&period; The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime&comma; which can be reached at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ovc&period;gov&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">www&period;ovc&period;gov<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Topic&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; Elder JusticeConsumer ProtectionComponent&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Civil Division<&sol;a>Press Release Number&colon; 23-618 <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Updated June 1&comma; 2023<a href&equals;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;pr&sol;two-nigerian-nationals-previously-extradited-united-kingdom-plead-guilty-international-fraud>Original Article<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Share This Article
Follow:
FraudsWatch is а site reporting on fraud and scammers on internet, in financial services and personal. Providing a daily news service publishes articles contributed by experts; is widely reported in thе latest compliance requirements, and offers very broad coverage of thе latest online theft cases, pending investigations and threats of fraud.
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Exit mobile version