A 45-year-old Nigerian resident in the United States, Okeoghene Patrick Udugba, is facing up to 30 years’ imprisonment after a federal grand jury indicted him over his alleged role in a romance scam and business email compromise scheme that reportedly defrauded a United States government agency of more than $300,000.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday that Udugba, who resides in Frisco, Texas, was indicted on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.
According to the United States Attorney, Brian Miller, Udugba and his alleged accomplices orchestrated overlapping romance and business email compromise schemes by using social media platforms and dating websites to lure victims into fake romantic relationships.
The statement read, “Udugba and others utilised social media and dating websites to meet and establish purported romantic relationships with persons in multiple states.
“Those persons were groomed and ultimately used by Udugba and others as money mules to receive and cash fraudulently obtained checks.”
Miller further alleged that members of the syndicate used spoofed email addresses originating from Nigeria to impersonate officials of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Members of the conspiracy sent emails from ‘spoofed’ addresses in Nigeria, claiming to be representatives of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
“The spoofed emails directed 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,” Miller stated.
He added that the fraudulent emails and invoices led the agency’s grant administrator to release payments exceeding $300,000.
The attorney noted that if convicted, Udugba faces a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release after serving his sentence, and a fine.
The Attorney’s Office, however, stressed that the indictment remains an allegation.
“The indictments and criminal information are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court,” the statement noted.
PUNCH Metro reported on April 8 that a US-based Nigerian, Ifeanyi Ugwu, 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.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, Eric Grant, had stated that Ugwu, 49, of Bakersfield, admitted to running the illegal operation between December 2020 and August 2023.