By Peter Omopo
Washington D.C., April 29, 2025 — A Nigerian national, Okezie Ogbata, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison in the United States for his role in a $6 million international inheritance fraud scheme targeting elderly and vulnerable Americans.
The 36-year-old was handed a 97-month prison term after pleading guilty to defrauding more than 400 victims through a sophisticated scam that spanned several years. His sentencing was announced in a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday.
According to court records, Ogbata and his co-conspirators mailed personalized letters to elderly individuals across the United States, falsely claiming to represent a Spanish bank and informing recipients of a bogus multimillion-dollar inheritance from a long-lost relative who had supposedly died overseas.
Victims were deceived into paying various upfront fees—such as taxes, delivery charges, and administrative costs—under the guise of securing the inheritance. However, no funds were ever delivered.
The Justice Department revealed that the fraudsters used a network of previous victims in the U.S., who had been manipulated into receiving and forwarding funds to Ogbata and his associates. This elaborate system helped conceal the perpetrators’ identities and prolong the scam.
“Ogbata and his co-conspirators exploited the trust and hopes of vulnerable individuals for their own gain,” the DOJ stated.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth emphasized the significance of international cooperation in dismantling such transnational criminal networks, calling the prosecution “a testament to the critical role of global collaboration in protecting victims from complex fraud schemes.”
