Get Guardian on GoogleA Nigerian citizen, Tochuwku Albert Nnebocha, 43, has been extradited from Poland to the United States to face federal charges for his alleged role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that prosecutors say targeted elderly Americans for more than five years.
Nnebocha appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett in Miami yesterday, following his arrest in Poland in April 2025.
He has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as substantive counts of mail fraud and wire fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
According to court filings, Nnebocha and others allegedly operated an elaborate scheme by sending personalised letters to elderly victims across the United States. The letters, prosecutors say, falsely claimed that recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives in Spain. Before receiving the purported funds, victims were told to pay delivery fees, taxes and other charges to avoid scrutiny from authorities.
Victims allegedly sent money through intermediaries in the U.S., many of them former fraud victims who had been persuaded to forward funds to the defendants or their associates. Prosecutors say no victim ever received an inheritance.
Two other defendants have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced. U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman sentenced Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, extradited from Portugal, and Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, extradited from the United Kingdom, to 97 months’ imprisonment each for their roles in the same scheme.
“This extradition underscores our commitment to pursue fraudsters wherever they are found,” said prosecutors in announcing Nnebocha’s court appearance.
