A Nigerian residing in the US, Tochukwu Nwosisi, has been sentenced to three years in prison by a federal court in Houston, Texas, for his involvement in an international advance-fee scheme perpetrated by fellow Nigerians, which defrauded victims worldwide of over $5.6 million.
On March 4, Tochukwu Nwosisi, based in Indiana, was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to commit money laundering and concealing money laundering.
According to court documents and trial evidence cited by the Department of Justice, 52-year-old Nwosisi participated in the scheme from at least February 2015 to January 2018. The scheme involved fraudulent promises of investment funding and inheritances to victims globally.
Nwosisi's co-conspirators in Nigeria convinced victims to make substantial wire transfers to US bank accounts under the false pretense that paying the purported advance fees was necessary to release their funds or inheritance.
Nwosisi functioned as a money launderer, receiving victim funds into his US-based bank accounts and then transferring the proceeds to the ringleaders in Nigeria.
Following his conviction on March 4, a federal jury in Houston found Nwosisi guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and concealment of money laundering.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, alongside U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Douglas A. Williams Jr. of the FBI Houston Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Hileman of the Department of State Office of Inspector General (DOS-OIG), announced the verdict.
The FBI and DOS-OIG conducted the investigation. US District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced Nwosisi to 36 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $905,945 in restitution.
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