Nigerian national living in the US faces up to three decades in prison for alleged $300,000 scam

Okeoghene Patrick Udugba, a 45-year-old Nigerian resident in the United States, is at risk of being imprisoned for up to 30 years following his indictment by a federal grand jury for his purported involvement in a romance scam and business email compromise scheme that allegedly swindled a United States government agency out of more than $300,000.

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The indictment, announced by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, charges Udugba, who lives in Frisco, Texas, with money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.

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According to United States Attorney Brian Miller, Udugba and his alleged co-conspirators devised overlapping romance and business email compromise schemes, leveraging social media platforms and dating websites to deceive victims into fake romantic relationships.

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The statement issued by the United States Attorney’s Office revealed that Udugba and his accomplices utilized social media and dating websites to establish purported romantic relationships with individuals in multiple states, who were then exploited as money mules to receive and cash fraudulently obtained checks.

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Miller further alleged that the syndicate members used spoofed email addresses originating from Nigeria to impersonate officials of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, sending emails that claimed to be from representatives of the agency.

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These spoofed emails instructed that FWS grant funds be used to pay fabricated invoices, which falsely represented that the money mules were contractors and consultants of FWS who had performed work on grant-eligible projects, according to Miller.

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The fraudulent emails and invoices resulted in the agency’s grant administrator releasing payments exceeding $300,000, as stated by Miller.

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If convicted, Udugba faces a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment, in addition to a term of supervised release after serving his sentence, and a fine, as noted by the attorney.

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The Attorney’s Office emphasized that the indictment remains an allegation, stressing that all persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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On April 8, PUNCH Metro reported that Ifeanyi Ugwu, a US-based Nigerian, was facing up to five years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business involving more than $5m in illegally obtained funds.

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US Attorney for the Eastern District of California, Eric Grant, stated that Ugwu, 49, of Bakersfield, admitted to running the illegal operation between December 2020 and August 2023.