By: Raymond L. Daye
Sep 18, 2024
Everyone’s fantasy: a rich relative you never knew about dies and leaves you several million dollars. Your first thought is, “This will change my life.” For 400 U.S. senior citizens who were conned out of $6 million over a five-year period, that statement proved to be all-to-true.
This “morally reprehensible” scheme was finally concluded earlier this year when U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams sentenced the last member of the gang, Amos Prince Okey Ezemma, to seven years and one month in federal prison for mail and wire fraud. The maximum sentence for the crimes was 20 years in prison.
Williams also ordered Ezemma and his five cohorts to pay $6 million in restitution to their victims.
“Targeting the elderly for pure financial gain is beyond shameful, it’s morally reprehensible,” Special Agent in Charge Francisco B. Burrola of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-Arizona said in a Department of Justice press release announcing Ezemma’s sentencing.
“Protecting such a vulnerable population is not just the responsibility of family members but also law enforcement agencies like HSI and our partners. Together, we are a force multiplier committed to apprehending those who scam our seniors,” Burrola said.
The six Nigerian nationals were indicted in February 2023. Three lived in Spain, and three lived in England while they operated their fraud ring.
Once the wheels of justice began turning, Judge Willams knocked them over like dominoes.
Emmanuel Samuel was sentenced to 82 months in prison on July 21, 2023. Jerry Chucks Ozor received 87 months on July 25, 2023. On Aug. 29, 2023, it was Iheanychukwu Jonathan Abraham’s turn, getting a 90-month prison term. Williams handed Kennedy Ikponmwosa a sentence of 87 months on Oct. 20, 2023. The longest sentence went to Ezennia Peter Neboh on Nov. 2, 2023 – 10 years and eight months.
What They Did
DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Service Investigation Service conducted the investigation, with assistance from the National Crime Agency, Spanish National Police, Portuguese Judicial Police and law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
Investigators found the six fraudsters sent personalized letters to elderly victims, claiming to represent a Spanish bank and telling them a deceased relative living in Portugal had left them an inheritance of several million dollars, according to the indictment of Ezemma and his co-conspirators.
Amos Prince Okey Ezemma and his co-conspirators scammed elderly victims out of their life savings by convincing them they had received a lucrative inheritance. The victims paid what they thought were taxes and administrative fees, according to an indictment obtained by The Daily Muck.
All they had to do to become millionaires was send money to pay taxes, delivery fees and other costs to avoid being questioned by authorities, the DOJ said in a May 2 press release announcing Ezemma’s guilty plea.
The scammers collected the money from victims through a web of former victims they had convinced to receive money and forward it to the fraud ring members or their confederates.
The victims, of course, never received their promised inheritance.
Last To Be Arrested
Ezemma was the last ring member to be arrested, being taken into custody when he arrived at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7, 2023. He was arraigned on Dec. 19, 2023, and remained in custody while awaiting trial, Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported in a Jan. 3 press release announcing Ezemma’s arrest.
Authorities in Madrid and London arrested Neboh, Ikponmwosa, Abraham, Samuel and Ozor in April 2022 based on an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida. They also remained incarcerated while awaiting trial, ICE said in a Feb. 23, 2023 statement.
“Schemes that prey on the elderly are particularly insidious,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton said in the Jan. 3 statement. “The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud U.S. consumers, wherever they are located.
Be Alert for Signs of Inheritance Scams
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported on the fraud ring’s activities and included this information from the U.S. Department of Justice concerning inheritance scams in a May 2023 newsletter.
In the indictment, prosecutors outlined the “materially false statements” that Ezemma and others made in their scam, which are ploys fraudsters use in inheritance scams.
“An inheritance scam is a form of an imposter scam in which fraudsters pretend to be someone they are not, often a lawyer, banker, or foreign official,” the advice states. “These fraudsters will try to get people excited about a large windfall and may use legitimate-looking legal documents as part of the scam.”
It tells consumers to:
Be wary of unexpected contact from individuals offering a large inheritance.
Be skeptical of promises that sound too good to be true.
Resist pressure to act immediately.
Do not send money or provide information to anyone you do not know.
Seek advice from a trusted individual or an independent professional if you are in doubt.
Elderly victims age 60 or older should call the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). The DOJ hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information, visit the Consumer Protection Branch webpage at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or by calling 877-FTC-HELP. The Office for Victims of Crime can be reached at www.ovc.gov.
Story courtesy of Daily Muck www.dailymuck.com
