A United States federal court has sentenced Nigerian citizen Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata to eight years and four months in prison for orchestrating a large-scale international fraud scheme that defrauded more than 400 American victims out of over $6 million.
The 36-year-old was found guilty of masterminding a sophisticated inheritance scam that primarily targeted elderly and vulnerable individuals across the United States. According to court documents, Ogbata posed as a representative of a Spanish financial institution and mailed hundreds of fraudulent letters claiming recipients were heirs to multimillion-dollar estates from deceased relatives abroad.
To access the bogus inheritance, victims were told to cover various upfront costs, including delivery fees, taxes, and administrative charges. These funds were funneled into bank accounts controlled by Ogbata’s network, which included co-conspirators and even earlier victims who had been manipulated into becoming intermediaries.
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The fraudulent operation ran for several years, causing not only significant financial damage but also emotional distress to many of the affected individuals. U.S. authorities described the scheme as one of the most elaborate inheritance fraud cases involving a Nigerian national.
Ogbata’s arrest was the result of extensive international collaboration between American and Portuguese law enforcement agencies. He was apprehended while temporarily residing in Portugal, through a joint effort involving the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Portuguese Judicial Police, and the Public Prosecution Service of Portugal.
“This case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime,” said Yaakov Roth, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Civil Division.
He added, “The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will continue to pursue, prosecute, and bring to justice transnational criminals responsible for defrauding U.S. consumers, wherever they are located.”
In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Ogbata to forfeit assets acquired through the scheme and potentially pay restitution to victims.
U.S. prosecutors emphasized that the case sends a strong message to other fraudsters operating internationally that such crimes will not go unpunished.
Authorities are urging the public to remain cautious of unsolicited communications promising large sums of money in exchange for upfront payments. They recommend consulting trusted legal professionals before responding to claims of inheritance and reporting any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
The conviction of Ogbata underscores the growing threat of cross-border financial scams and reinforces the U.S. government’s commitment to protecting its citizens through global enforcement efforts.
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