{"id":146511,"date":"2025-01-17T12:09:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T11:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam"},"modified":"2025-01-21T16:27:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T15:27:24","slug":"nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a transnational inheritance scam that defrauded over 400 victims, primarily elderly and vulnerable individuals, of more than $6 million.<\/p>\n

Ogbata entered the guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2025, before Judge Roy K. Altman. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the elaborate fraud operation spanned several years and involved personalised letters purporting to represent a Spanish bank. The letters falsely claimed recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives overseas. Victims were tricked into sending payments for supposed delivery fees, taxes, and other charges required to release their \u201cinheritance funds.\u201d However, no funds existed, and the entire operation was a scam.<\/p>\n

Ogbata and his network used U.S.-based accomplices, many of whom were former victims, to collect and transfer the stolen money. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Division, pointed out the significance of international cooperation in combating such crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime,\u201d Boynton said, thanking U.S. and international agencies for their contributions to the case.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida stated the commitment to protecting vulnerable populations: \u201cThe long arm of the American justice system has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation\u2019s most vulnerable populations, including the elderly. Individuals who defraud American consumers will be brought to justice, no matter where they are located.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second high-profile case involving the international fraud ring. Several co-conspirators have already been convicted and sentenced, including Ezennia Peter Neboh, extradited from Spain and sentenced to 128 months in prison; Kennedy Ikponmwosa, also extradited from Spain and sentenced to 97 months; Emmanuel Samuel, Jerry Chucks Ozor, and Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham extradited from the UK and sentenced to 82, 87, and 90 months, respectively; and Prince Amos Okey Ezemma, extradited from Nigeria and sentenced to 90 months in prison.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a transnational inheritance scam that defrauded over 400 victims, primarily elderly and vulnerable individuals, of more than $6 million. Ogbata entered the guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the Southern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":146510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-146511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nNigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in con ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in con ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-17T11:09:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-21T15:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"997\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-17T11:09:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-21T15:27:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\"},\"wordCount\":384,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\",\"name\":\"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-17T11:09:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-21T15:27:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in con ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg\",\"width\":997,\"height\":740,\"caption\":\"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam - Nigeria","description":"A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in con ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam","og_description":"A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in con ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2025-01-17T11:09:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-21T15:27:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":997,"height":740,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam","datePublished":"2025-01-17T11:09:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-21T15:27:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam"},"wordCount":384,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg","keywords":["Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam","name":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-17T11:09:19+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-21T15:27:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"A 36-year-old Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in con ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/01\/sm_1737103388.907466.jpg","width":997,"height":740,"caption":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/nigerian-pleads-guilty-in-us-to-6m-inheritance-scam#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nigerian pleads guilty in US to $6m inheritance scam"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}