Eleven Nigerians have been arraigned by the United States government for alleged $6 million bank fraud, following its recent sanctions of six Nigerians for alleged internet fraud.
The U.S. Department of Justice in a statement on Thursday said the Nigerian nationals were arraigned before Justice Joel Schneider of District court of New Jersey.
The names of the accused are:
1. Sulaiman Dosunmu, 39;
2. Tunde Adeowo, 40;
3. Muritala Adeowo, 55;
4. Ayanniyi Alayande, 47;
5. Ahmed Ponle, 41;
6. Margiettu Kamu, 34;
7. Rafiat Sarumi, 36;
8. Babatunde Oke, 40;
9. Adekunle Owolabi, 49;
10. Olayinka Olaseinde, 42; and
11. Olugbenga Oyedele, 47.
The U.S. treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, had earlier announced the sanctioning of six Nigerians for allegedly scamming U.S. businesses and individuals through business email compromise (BEC) and romance fraud of over $6 million.
But in Thursday’s court hearing, the U.S. Attorney, Craig Carpenito, said the eleven are members of a Nigeria-based, multi-layered organisation that engaged in a massive bank fraud conspiracy in several states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island.
According to the statement, the alleged fraudulent acts were committed between June 2016 and March 2020.
Mr Carpenito added that the accused used debit cards to purchase money orders from third party stores to purchase used automobiles exported to Nigeria and other African countries at the higher market values.
Mr Carpenito noted that if found guilty, the 11 could face a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.
“Members of the group stole numerous business checks from the United States mail, altered the payee on the checks with over 400 fraudulent accounts with fake identity documents to defraud several major banks of $6 million and then launder that money and send it overseas to other conspirators.
“The organisation also used fraudulent name and deposited the checks in bank accounts that had been opened with forged foreign passport documents and fraudulent U.S. visas that matched the names on the stolen checks.
“Once the banks credited all or a portion of the funds to the accounts, but before the checks had cleared, the defendants withdrew the funds from ATMs or purchased money orders, using debit cards associated with the fraudulent accounts,” Mr Carpenito said.
These alleged criminals are giving Nigeria and Nigerians bad image and dishonor at home and abroad. Too bad! We pray that others among them that have not been arrested should stop criminal activities and find themselves some better things to do!
US is not a place of criminals. UK and other countries may tolerate these frausters. US is not a place where such activities are encouraged.
