US jails four Nigerians over international romance scam

Four Nigerian citizens residing in the United States and Canada have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a series of romance and investment scams against victims across the US.

Reagan Fondren, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentences on Tuesday, November 12.

A federal grand jury in the Western District of Tennessee indicted the four on June 29, 2023 with conspiracy to commit fraud and money

The four convicted are Patrick Edah, 40, residing in Toronto, Efe Egbowawa, 41, residing in Atlanta, Igocha Mac-Okor, 40, residing in Atlanta, and Kay Ozegbe, 44, a naturalised U.S. citizen also residing in Atlanta.

In a statement from the United States Attorney’s office, all four defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of a scheme that used false identities and email accounts on internet dating sites to trick people into wiring or mailing money to shell companies and fictitious agents.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker sentenced Egbowawa to five years in federal prison on April 17, 2024 and sentenced Ozegbe to three years on September 23, 2024.

On October 30, 2024, Edah and Mac-Okor were sentenced by Judge Parker to two and half years and four years, respectively, in federal prison.

According to the United States Attorney’s office, evidence presented in court revealed that from 2017 to approximately November 2021, members of the conspiracy assumed false identities on social media, gaming applications, dating websites, and other internet-based platforms in a scheme to trick victims into entering friendships and romantic relationships.

It noted that they then played various roles in exploiting those connections to convince individuals to send them money via wire, check, U.S. mail, and package delivery services.

As part of the conspiracy, romance scammers or “handlers” posed as potential friends or romantic partners and entered online relationships with unwitting victims. The relationships usually developed quickly through social media contact, text messages, email, and phone calls.

Once the victim was clearly engaged in the scam, the scammer would begin to ask for emergency financial assistance. If the victim sent money, the scammer would ask for increasingly larger amounts of financial assistance.

It stated that there were dozens of victims who each lost amounts ranging from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars, citing one victim who lost over $400,000 to this scheme over the course of several months.

It also added that Edah, Egbowawa, Mac-Okor, and Ozegbe functioned as “money mules” in the conspiracy, that is, they worked in conjunction with other members of the conspiracy to move the financial proceeds of the scams through several layers of bank accounts and shell companies to hide the sources of the money and make it difficult to trace.

“These individuals used deception and fraud to prey on the vulnerable causing unmeasurable emotional damage and significant financial losses,” said Special Agent in Charge Joe Carrico of the FBI – Nashville Field Office, Memphis Resident Agency. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to target these predators and bring them to justice.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service.