A 43-year-old Nigerian, Tochuwku Albert Nnebocha, has been extradited from Poland to the United States where he is facing federal charges over a multimillion-dollar inheritance fraud that preyed on elderly Americans—www.naijnaira.com reports.
Authorities said Nnebocha led a criminal network that created convincing letters claiming seniors had inherited fortunes from relatives in Spain.
According to prosecutors, victims were pressured into paying upfront taxes and legal fees with the promise of unlocking huge inheritances, but the funds were secretly funneled back to the fraudsters.
The Justice Department confirmed that some of the money was moved through former victims who unknowingly became intermediaries in the scheme.
Court filings revealed that the operation ran for more than five years, leaving dozens of older Americans out of thousands of dollars.
If convicted, Nnebocha faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud.
Two co-defendants, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata and Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, have already been sentenced to over eight years each after pleading guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
“This case is part of our ongoing efforts to protect seniors from transnational fraud,” prosecutors said in a statement.
The investigation involved U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, INTERPOL, Polish authorities, and multiple Justice Department divisions.
Officials urged seniors to report scams through the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11, which offers support and guidance to potential victims.
Article updated 20 hours ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
