A 37-year-old Nigerian man, Chukwunonso Obiora, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his involvement in sophisticated criminal schemes, including laundering proceeds from business email compromises, BEC, and fraudulently obtaining a U.S. passport.
The sentencing, handed down by United States District Judge Indira Talwani, also includes three years of supervised release, restitution, and forfeiture totaling $3,326,014.14.
Obiora pleaded guilty in June 2024 to one count of passport fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy. He was arrested in October 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was held in custody until his trial.
According to U.S. prosecutors, Obiora led a money-laundering conspiracy from March 2021 to May 2023. The scheme involved targeting businesses through BEC scams, where cybercriminals impersonate trusted parties via email to deceive companies into wiring funds to accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
Obiora and his co-conspirators used stolen personal information to create fake identities, open fraudulent bank accounts, and incorporate sham businesses.
These accounts were then used to receive and withdraw BEC proceeds, which were quickly moved to other accounts or wired to conspirators in Nigeria, China, and other countries.
In two years, the group engaged in at least $6.5 million in financial transactions involving fraud proceeds, with Obiora and his U.S.-based associates taking a 40% share of the funds as payment for their roles in the conspiracy.
After being removed from the U.S. by immigration authorities in December 2021, Obiora conspired with a close relative, an American citizen, to fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport.
The relative falsely reported his passport as lost or stolen and applied for a replacement, submitting Obiora’s photograph with his own name.
The fraudulent passport was then sent to Obiora, who used it to re-enter the U.S. in October 2023 by posing as his relative.
The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations New England with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy praised the coordinated efforts of law enforcement to bring Obiora to justice.