US Court Sentences 2 Nigerians to 10 Years Imprisonment Over $6m Fraud

• Two Nigerians have been sentenced to a combined jail term of 10 years over $6m fraud in the United States
• The culprits operated a business email compromise scheme targeting US companies and elderly citizens
• According to court documents, the Nigerians masquerade as trustworthy entities in electronic communications to obtain money

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 7 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international events

New Haven, Connecticut -A United States federal jury has sentenced two Nigerians, Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji and Tolulope Bodunde, to a combined jail term of 10 years over $6m fraud.

The Nigerians are co-conspirators in a business email compromise scheme targeting US companies and elderly citizens, leading to a loss of about $6 million to their victims.

The Office of the Public Affairs, US Department of Justice, disclosed this in a statement issued via its website.

According to the statement, Osuji was sentenced to eight years imprisonment while Bodunde was jailed for two years.

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39-year-old Osuji was sentenced in New Haven, Connecticut on Wednesday, December 4 and Bodunde’s judgment was delivered on October 16, 2024.

Osuji was said to have been extradited from Malaysia in 2022 and was found guilty of “conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft” on May 1, 2024.

He was said to have operated a business email compromise scheme out of multiple countries, including the United States.

“According to court documents and statements made in court, Osuji and his co-conspirators targeted specific individuals and businesses by masquerading as trustworthy entities in electronic communications to obtain money.

“They used witting and unwitting ‘money mules’ to receive fraud proceeds in their bank accounts and then either transferred those funds from the money mule accounts to accounts under the co-conspirators’ control or converted the stolen proceeds to cash for further transfer.”

The statement added that:

“Another co-conspirator, Tolulope Bodunde, also a citizen of Nigeria, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Oct. 16 to two years in prison,”

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U.S. Court Sentences Nigerian Man to 7 Years

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Oludayo Adeagbo, a 45-year-old Nigerian-British man, was sentenced to seven years in U.S. prison for his role in a multi-million dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

The BEC scam involves gaining unauthorized access to legitimate email accounts or creating fake accounts to deceive victims.

After being extradited from the UK in August 2022, Adeagbo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy in both Texas and North Carolina.

Source: Legit.ng