The United States Department of Justice has just released the statement below announcing that 80 defendants, most of whom are Nigerians have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, cons"},"modified":"2019-08-23T12:58:57","modified_gmt":"2019-08-23T12:58:57","slug":"nigeria-about-80-nigerians-charged-for-massive-fraud-money-laundering-in-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/08\/23\/nigeria-about-80-nigerians-charged-for-massive-fraud-money-laundering-in-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria: About 80 Nigerians Charged For Massive Fraud, Money Laundering in U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The United States Department of Justice has just released the statement below announcing that 80 defendants, most of whom are Nigerians have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and aggravated identity theft. A number of the defendants, the statement said, are also facing substantive fraud and money laundering charges.<\/p>\n
Read full details below.<\/strong><\/p>\n A 252-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges 80 defendants, most of whom are Nigerian nationals, with participating in a massive conspiracy to steal millions of dollars through a variety of fraud schemes and launder the funds through a Los Angeles-based money laundering network.<\/p>\n The indictment was unsealed after law enforcement authorities this morning arrested 14 defendants across the United States, with 11 of those arrests taking place in the Los Angeles region. Two defendants were already in federal custody on other charges, and one was arrested earlier this week. The remaining defendants are believed to be abroad, with most them located in Nigeria.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The indictment alleges that the 80 defendants and others used various online fraud schemes \u2013 including business email compromise (BEC) frauds, romance scams, and schemes targeting the elderly \u2013 to defraud victims out of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n According to a criminal complaint also unsealed today, co-conspirators based in Nigeria, the United States and other countries contacted the lead defendants in the indictment \u2013 Valentine Iro, 31, of Carson, and Chukwudi Christogunus Igbokwe, 38, of Gardena, both Nigerian citizens \u2013 for bank and money-service accounts that could receive funds fraudulently obtained from victims. Once members of the conspiracy convinced victims to send money under false pretenses, Iro and Igbokwe coordinated the receipt of funds and oversaw an extensive money-laundering network, according to the 145-page indictment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n DOWNLOAD FULL INDICTMENT HERE<\/strong><\/p>\n The indictment and criminal complaint allege that Iro and Igbokwe, who were among those arrested this morning, were involved in schemes resulting in the fraudulent transfer of at least $6 million in fraudulently-obtained funds \u2013 and the overall conspiracy was responsible for the attempted theft of at least an additional $40 million.<\/p>\n The suspected fraudsters targeted victims in the United States and across the globe, including individuals, small and large businesses, and law firms. Some of the victims of the conspiracy lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fraud schemes, and many were elderly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThis case is part of our ongoing efforts to protect Americans from fraudulent online schemes and to bring to justice those who prey upon American citizens and businesses,\u201d said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. \u201cToday, we have taken a major step to disrupt criminal networks that use BEC schemes, romance scams and other frauds to fleece victims. This indictment sends a message that we will identify perpetrators \u2013 no matter where they reside \u2013 and we will cut off the flow of ill-gotten gains.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s announcement highlights the extensive efforts that organized criminal groups will engage in to perpetrate BEC schemes that target American citizens and their hard-earned assets,\u201d said Assistant Director in Charge Paul Delacourt of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office. \u201cBillions of dollars are lost annually, and we urge citizens to be aware of these sophisticated financial schemes to protect themselves or their businesses from becoming unsuspecting victims. The FBI is committed to working with our partner agencies worldwide to continue to identify these cyber criminals and to dismantle their networks.\u201d<\/p>\n Messrs Iro and Igbokwe essentially were brokers of fraudulent bank accounts. According to the indictment, Iro and Igbokwe collected bank accounts, fielded requests for bank account information, provided that information to co-conspirators around the world, and laundered the money obtained from victims \u2013 all of this in exchange for a cut of the money stolen from victims of the various fraud schemes.<\/p>\n If a bank account with a specific business name was required to trick a business-victim into making a payment, Iro and Igbokwe often coordinated with \u201cmoney mules\u201d to open accounts that could receive funds obtained, according to court documents. In addition to making the fake business name mirror the name of a legitimate company, members of the conspiracy routinely filed fictitious business name statements with the Los Angeles County Registrar\/Recorder\u2019s Office that were presented to banks when the fraudulent accounts were opened.<\/p>\n Once a victim deposited funds into a bank account or a money services account, Messrs Iro and Igbokwe allegedly coordinated with others to further launder the funds. Members of the conspiracy sometimes wired funds to other bank accounts under their control; in other cases, they simply withdrew funds as cash or negotiable instruments such as cashier\u2019s checks.<\/p>\n When stolen funds were withdrawn as cash, the defendants frequently used illicit money exchangers to move funds overseas, generally avoiding transferring the funds directly through banking institutions, the indictment alleges. To do this, Iro and Igbokwe coordinated the transfer of a victim\u2019s funds from a fraudulent bank account they controlled to U.S. bank accounts belonging to illicit money exchangers.<\/p>\n Those money exchangers, in turn, used a Nigerian banking application to transfer other funds in naira (\u20a6), the currency of Nigeria, from Nigerian bank accounts they controlled to the Nigerian bank accounts specified by Messrs Iro and Igbokwe. This method was used to transfer millions of dollars to Nigerian co-conspirators without directly transferring funds overseas. The indictment alleges that Jerry Ikogho, 50, of Carson (who was taken into custody on Sunday), and Adegoke Moses Ogungbe, 34, of Fontana, were among those who served as illicit money exchangers for the conspiracy.<\/p>\n Each of the 80 defendants named in the indictment is charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and aggravated identity theft. A number of the defendants also face substantive fraud and money laundering charges.<\/p>\n Additionally, Messrs Iro, Igbokwe, Ikogho, Ogungbe and three other defendants \u2013Izuchukwu Kingsley Umejesi, 30, of Los Angeles, Tityaye Marina Mansbangura, 33, of Palmdale, and Obi Madekwe, 31, of Nigeria \u2013 are charged with operating illegal money transmitting businesses. Ogungbe and Mansbangura were also among those arrested this morning, and Umejesi is a fugitive currently being sought by authorities.<\/p>\n Messrs Iro, Igbokwe and Chuks Eroha, 39, face additional charges for attempting to destroy their phones when the FBI executed a search warrant in July 2017.<\/p>\n Mr Iro also is charged with lying to the FBI in an interview conducted during the search. The complaint alleges that, when the FBI arrived to conduct the court-authorized search at Mr Iro\u2019s apartment in Carson, Mr Iro broke his phone in half, while Messrs Igbokwe and Eroha threw phones from a bedroom window of the apartment.<\/p>\n While Mr Iro claimed he previously had broken the phone during an argument with his wife, the complaint details how the FBI was able to determine that the phone was operational until seconds after the FBI knocked on Mr Iro\u2019s apartment door to execute the search warrant. Mr Eroha is believed to have fled to Nigeria shortly after the FBI executed the warrant.<\/p>\n The charges contained in the criminal complaint and indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statatement.<\/p>\n This investigation is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office, the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department, and the United States Department of State provided substantial assistance during the investigation.<\/p>\n Several agencies provided support during today\u2019s takedown or during the investigation, including the United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Ventura County District Attorney\u2019s Office and the California Franchise Tax Board.<\/p>\n Many of the FBI\u2019s Legal Attach\u00e9s provided assistance throughout this investigation, as did the Criminal Division\u2019s Office of International Affairs, and foreign authorities around the world. In particular, the FBI and U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office thank the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom and the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office of Osnabr\u00fcck, Germany for their contributions.<\/p>\n This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anil J. Antony and Joseph B. Woodring of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section.<\/p>\n The FBI in 2017 issued a report on the rise of BEC schemes, and published a recap of 2018\u2019s Operation WireWire, which was an international effort to disrupt international BEC scams. An FBI public service announcement that warns of the dangers of BEC schemes encourages businesses to \u201ctrust but verify.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The United States Department of Justice has just released the statement below announcing that 80 defendants, most of whom are Nigerians have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and aggravated identity theft. A number of the defendants, the statement said, are also facing substantive fraud and money laundering charges. Read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":687486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3702],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-689773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\n
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