- Nigerian man sentenced for inheritance fraud
- Elderly Americans were the main targets
- Scam operated across borders for seven years
- Victims received fake inheritance letters
A United States federal court has sentenced a Nigerian national to over eight years in prison for running a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that targeted elderly and vulnerable Americans, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
The US Department of Justice has confirmed that Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha, a 44-year-old Nigerian, has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for his role in a long-running inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded victims across the United States.
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In a statement released on Friday, the DOJ said Nnebocha was part of a years-long international conspiracy that deliberately targeted elderly and vulnerable individuals, exploiting their trust for financial gain.
“A Nigerian national was sentenced today to more than eight years in prison for participating in a years-long conspiracy to defraud elderly and vulnerable Americans through an inheritance fraud scheme,” the DOJ stated.
Court documents revealed that Nnebocha and his accomplices operated the scam for over seven years, running what prosecutors described as a sophisticated international fraud network.
During that period, the group sent hundreds of thousands of personalised letters to elderly Americans, falsely claiming to represent a bank in Spain. The letters informed recipients that they were beneficiaries of a multi-million-dollar inheritance supposedly left by a deceased relative.
Victims were then pressured into paying various fees and charges before the promised inheritance could be released—money that prosecutors say went straight into the pockets of the fraudsters.
“The scheme exploited the hopes and vulnerabilities of elderly victims who believed they were entitled to a significant inheritance,” the DOJ added.
US authorities said the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime and serves as a warning to fraudsters operating across international borders.