Emmanuel Adigwe
Another batch of 11 Nigerians in the United States have been charged for internet fraud of over $6m just two weeks after six Nigerians were also charged for the same offence.
This was announced by the US Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, who revealed this in a statement and he named the Nigerians.
They are: Sulaiman Dosunmu, 39; Tunde Adeowo, 40; Muritala Adeowo, 55; Ayanniyi Alayande, 47; Ahmmed Ponle, 41.
Also, Margiettu Kamu, 34; Rafiat Sarumi, 36; Babatunde Oke, 40; Adekunle Owolabi, 49; Olayinka Olaseinde, 42; and Olugbenga Oyedele, 47 are also included in the list.
The charge read: “The defendants are allegedly members of a Nigeria-based, multi-layered organization that engaged in a massive bank fraud conspiracy in several states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island, between June 2016 and March 2020.
“Members of the group stole numerous business checks from the United States mail, altered the payee on the checks to a fraudulent name and deposited the checks in bank accounts that had been opened with forged foreign passport documents and fraudulent US visas that matched the names on the stolen checks.
“Members of the organization have used over 400 fraudulent accounts with fake identity documents to defraud the banks.
“The organization also laundered the proceeds of the fraud by several means, including using debit cards to purchase money orders from third-party stores and using those money orders to purchase used automobiles from different automobile auction companies in Pennsylvania.
“The vehicles were then exported to Nigeria and other countries in Africa to launder the stolen funds and to increase profits by selling the vehicles at the higher market values obtained for vehicles in these foreign countries.”
Gazelle reports that if they are found guilty, they risk a penalty of 30 years jail and a fine of $1m.