A US court has sentenced 36-year-old Nigerian national, Okezie Ogbata, to 97 months in prison for his role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme targeting elderly Americans.
The United States Department of Justice disclosed = that Ogbata is part of a group that sends personalised letters to elderly people across the country for years, falsely claiming the recipients are entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives abroad.
Ogbata pleads guilty and admits to defrauding more than 400 victims, most of whom are elderly or vulnerable.
He and his co-conspirators convince victims to pay various fees—such as delivery charges and taxes—before supposedly receiving their inheritance.
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These payments are routed through a complex network of U.S.-based former victims, who unknowingly act as intermediaries.
Officials highlight the international cooperation involved in the case. Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth praises law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Portugal for their collaboration. U.S. Attorney Hayden Byrne for the Southern District of Florida stresses that the American justice system aggressively pursues fraudsters targeting vulnerable populations.
Steven Hodges of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Francisco Burrola of Homeland Security Investigations also condemn the crime, calling it a cruel exploitation of the elderly. Burrola vows continued efforts to bring such criminals to justjustice.
Ogbata’s sentencing follows recent arrests of 22 Nigerian nationals by the FBI in connection with sextortion schemes, signaling an ongoing crackdown on cyber-enabled fraud against U.S. citizens.
Crediblenewsng.com
