A Nigerian man, Chukwunonso Obiora. formerly of Massachusetts, was sentenced for his role in separate schemes to launder criminal proceeds from fraud and obtaining a United States passport through false statements.

The United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New England made the announcement on Monday, January 5, 2025, through the US Department of Justice.

Obiora, 37, was sentenced by United States District Judge Indira Talwani to 11 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Obiora was also ordered to pay $3,326,014.14 in restitution and forfeiture.

In June 2024, Obiora pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Obiora was arrested on a criminal complaint in October 2023 in Atlanta, Ga. and was ordered held pending trial. He was indicted in January 2024.

Between at least as early as March 2021 and May 2023, Obiora and several co-conspirators agreed to receive and withdraw the proceeds of business email compromises (BECs) from bank accounts that they controlled, and to direct those funds to other co-conspirators, in exchange for a cut of the criminal proceeds. BECs are a type of fraud scheme that targets companies that make regular business payments by wire.

Cybercriminals use email to impersonate trusted parties to the payments in order to trick the victim companies into sending money to bank accounts controlled by participants in the scheme.

The defendant’s money laundering conspiracy, of which he admitted to being a leader and organizer, involved obtaining individual victims’ means of identification and creating fake driver’s licenses, incorporating businesses and opening bank accounts in the victims’ names; providing the bank accounts to co-conspirators involved in the BEC schemes as accounts to which victims could be tricked into sending wires; withdrawing money quickly from the bank accounts once the wire transfers arrived before victim companies learned that they had been tricked into sending money; and depositing the proceeds into other accounts, and wiring BEC scheme proceeds to the defendant and others in Nigeria, China and elsewhere.

The defendant and his co-conspirators took steps to conceal the existence of the conspiracy, including by forging business invoices and writing false memos on checks to suggest that the BEC scheme proceeds deposited into Destination Accounts were legitimate business revenues; and by making false statements to banks regarding the nature of the BEC scheme proceeds that were deposited into Destination Accounts.

The defendant and his U.S.-based co-conspirators shared at least as much as 40 percent of the deposited BEC scheme proceeds as payment for their roles in the conspiracy. In just two-plus years, the defendant and his co-conspirators engaged in at least $6.5 million in financial transactions involving the proceeds of BEC schemes.

After immigration authorities removed the defendant from the United States in December 2021, he agreed with a close relative who is an American citizen to obtain a U.S. passport in the relative’s name, which the defendant could use to re-enter the United States illegally.

The relative reported his passport lost or stolen and, in May 2023, applied for a new passport at a U.S. Post Office in Watertown, Mass. The sworn application had the relative’s name on it, but a picture of the defendant.

The relative sent the issued passport to the defendant, who, in October 2023, used the passport to travel from Nigeria to Detroit, Mich., where the defendant presented himself as his relative at the U.S. border.

United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New England made the announcement on Monday.

Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.

mysticwarrior:
You are in the US committing fraud, how do you think you could outsmart them and get away with it? ha some people get mind sha.

Urheadmaster:


Nowhere there's no crime in the world except heaven

mysticwarrior:
There had been crime in heaven, one third of the angels in heaven plotted and staged a rebelious campaign. That is high treason bro and it's one of the highest crime.

Urheadmaster:
really, you don't mean it.

After immigration authorities removed the defendant from the United States in December 2021, he agreed with a close relative who is an American citizen to obtain a U.S. passport in the relative’s name, which the defendant could use to re-enter the United States illegally.

The relative reported his passport lost or stolen and, in May 2023, applied for a new passport at a U.S. Post Office in Watertown, Mass. The sworn application had the relative’s name on it, but a picture of the defendant.

The relative sent the issued passport to the defendant, who, in October 2023, used the passport to travel from Nigeria to Detroit, Mich., where the defendant presented himself as his relative at the U.S. border.

Urheadmaster:


Nowhere there's no crime in the world except heaven

Sirmwill:
Name Checkers Association your seats are in the front 😂

Urheadmaster:





Don't say a Nigerian man.

Say a Biafra man as been sentenced to 11yrs in prison for fraud and fake passport in the united states of America.

osazsky:
I didn't border to read but I know it's one of our bloders who are developers..I have never seen a honest igbo guy their minds are wired to commit crime and all their women are very fair with yam legs and beers in their chest yet they collect exorbitant bride price for their daughters who are not virgin..I can never pay 1 naira to have a igbo girl..disgusting

Obaofaba:
Na them