3 months ago
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A Nigerian nationalist surviving successful the United States, Uchenna Nlemchi, has been sentenced to 51 months successful situation for his relation successful a hybrid romance scam and concern email compromise scheme.
U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent successful Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement successful a statement published connected the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico website.
Nlemchi’s sentencing follows his extradition from Hungary to the United States successful 2023. He was an planetary fugitive for implicit 5 years until helium was apprehended.
The tribunal besides ordered him to wage $524,000 successful restitution and a wealth judgement of $868,295.
According to tribunal documents, the strategy began successful July 2015, erstwhile a co-conspirator acceptable up a romance scam with a 56-year-old widow successful New Mexico nether the alias “Sean Bartlett.”
The co-conspirator convinced the unfortunate that helium was an technologist moving connected lucrative lipid contracts and offered to wed her successful speech for wealth for concern expenses.
On September 13, 2015, Nlemchi opened a idiosyncratic slope relationship with Amegy Bank successful his name. Sixteen days later, Nlemchi opened a fraudulent concern slope relationship astatine the aforesaid slope nether the sanction of the non-existent “Jay Auto & Machine Parts,” claiming sole ownership.
Over the adjacent fewer months, the unfortunate transferred funds from her status savings and a location equity indebtedness into Nlemchi-controlled accounts totaling much than $375,000, arsenic instructed by the co-conspirator.
This included wiring $45,000 connected October 7th to different person’s account, earlier sending $35,000 straight to the “Jay Auto & Machine Parts” relationship connected October 9th, the aforesaid time the different idiosyncratic wired $44,000 into that account.
On October 22nd, the unfortunate transferred $125,346 from her and her precocious husband’s IRA accounts into Nlemchi’s “Jay Auto & Machine Parts” slope account. Then connected December 7th, she took retired a $170,000 location equity indebtedness and instantly transferred the afloat magnitude to that account.
Separately, successful precocious 2015, a German national attempting to bargain a Miami condo received fraudulent ligament instructions aft a hacker compromised her attorney’s email address. The German unfortunate past transferred funds intended for the condo acquisition to the New Mexico victim’s account. A co-conspirator past instructed the New Mexico unfortunate to transportation much than $200,000 to Nlemchi’s accounts.
Nlemchi rapidly withdrew and transferred implicit $868,000 from the New Mexico victim’s “Jay Auto & Machine Parts” account, arsenic good arsenic different fraud proceeds. Nlemchi gave up the fraudulent accounts connected February 29, 2016, arsenic slope investigators closed in.
Nlemchi was studying astatine Texas Southern University portion successful the United States connected a pupil visa and successful 2017, helium was arrested successful Houston, Texas, and released connected physics monitoring successful his wife’s third-party custody. He was besides ordered to surrender his passport.
Nlemchi escaped his monitoring strategy and fled to Mexico, past Brazil, earlier returning to Nigeria.
Nlemchi pleaded blameworthy successful national tribunal to 1 number each of ligament fraud and conspiracy to perpetrate wealth laundering successful February 2024.
After completing his word of imprisonment, Nlemchi volition beryllium required to service 3 years of supervised merchandise and volition beryllium taxable to deportation proceedings.
English (US) ·