Nigerian risks 60 years in jail after conviction for $6.3m fraud in U.S.

A Federal assemblage successful New Haven, Connecticut, United States, convicted a Nigerian nationalist yesterday for operating a concern email compromise strategy retired of aggregate countries, including the United States.

According to tribunal documents and grounds presented astatine trial, Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji, 39, and his co-conspirators targeted circumstantial individuals and businesses by masquerading arsenic trustworthy entities successful physics communications to get money.

They utilised unwitting and witting “money mules” to person fraud proceeds successful their slope accounts, and past transferred those funds to accounts nether the power of Osuji and his co-conspirators oregon to person the stolen proceeds to currency for further transfer.

Over the people of the scheme’s years-long operation, galore victims were tricked into transferring funds into slope accounts the victims believed were nether the power of morganatic recipients of the funds arsenic portion of mean concern operations, erstwhile successful reality, the slope accounts were controlled by Osuji and his co-conspirators.

As a effect of the scheme, losses and intended losses totaled implicit $6.3 million.

“Osuji led a web of scammers successful Malaysia and elsewhere successful a blase concern email compromise strategy to defraud victims of millions of dollars,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, caput of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s condemnation is different illustration of however the department’s collaboration with planetary instrumentality enforcement partners enables america to bring cybercriminals to justness successful the United States.”

“While it is often hard to place and bring to justness cybercriminals operating overseas, today’s verdict demonstrates the expertise of the FBI and Stamford Police successful uncovering this transgression network, and the shared committedness of our counterparts successful Malaysia to guarantee that fraudsters are held accountable successful a tribunal of law,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. “We volition proceed to enactment to basal retired those who prosecute successful net fraud schemes, nary substance wherever successful the satellite they operate, and execute justness for victims of these crimes.”