A Nigerian national, Saheed Sunday Owolabi, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in the United States for his role in a large-scale fraud and money laundering scheme.
The conviction was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
A jury found Owolabi guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to authorities, the scheme involved defrauding victims across the United States and laundering over $1.5 million to Nigeria through a network of fraudulent activities.
U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said the case demonstrates the government’s commitment to prosecuting fraudsters targeting Americans.
At sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II found that Owolabi acted as a leader within a sophisticated criminal network that caused significant financial hardship to victims.
At sentencing, the prosecution highlighted images discovered on Inmate Owolabi’s phone at the time of his arrest showing how he greedily blew this stolen money.
The U.S. Department of Justice has since intensified investigations and prosecutions related to pandemic-related fraud, recovering billions of dollars and securing multiple convictions from those who illegally obtained relief funds
In another case, three Nigerian nationals also pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court for laundering over $4.5 million in fraud proceeds linked to romance scams and business email compromise schemes that targeted more than 125 victims.