A 45-year-old Nigerian, Okeoghene Patrick Udugba, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud over an alleged romance scam and business email compromise scheme.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the indictment in a statement on Wednesday, alleging that Udugba, who resides in Frisco, Texas, orchestrated overlapping fraud schemes with others.
According to the statement, “Udugba and others orchestrated overlapping romance and business email compromise schemes.
“As part of the scheme, Udugba and others utilized social media and dating websites to meet and establish purported romantic relationships with persons in multiple states.
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“Those persons were groomed and ultimately used by Udugba and others as money mules to receive and cash fraudulently obtained checks.”
The statement alleged that members of the syndicate sent emails from spoofed addresses in Nigeria while posing as 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.
“As a result of the fraudulent emails and invoices, FWS’s grant administrator issued payments in excess of $300,000,” the statement said.
The US Attorney’s Office said the case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General, while Assistant United States Attorney Sarah R. Lloyd is prosecuting the matter.
It added that the prosecution forms part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative targeting transnational criminal organisations and fraud.
The statement noted that “the maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 30 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.”
However, it emphasised that “Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.”
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