A US federal jury has sentenced two Nigerian nationals, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, to 30 years combined imprisonment for defrauding US citizens of $3.5 million. The duo perpetrated online inheritance scams, romance scams, and business email compromise scams, targeting victims across the United States.
Ibekie received a 20-year prison sentence, while Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years. According to the US Department of Justice, the duo used aliases to communicate with victims, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to claim them.
The scams were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation, which resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million. Ibekie was convicted on 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud.
An accomplice, US citizen Jennifer Gosha, is scheduled for sentencing on December 18.
