Nigerian apprehended, arraigned for defrauding 400 Americans

A Nigerian, Okezie Ogbata, has been apprehended and arraigned before a district court in Florida, United States, for defrauding more than 400 elderly and vulnerable victims of over $6m.

Ogbata was found guilty of operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme by the Southern District of Florida last Wednesday.

The Department of Justice disclosed that Ogbata and his co-conspirators told a series of lies to victims “to send money for delivery fees, taxes and other payments to avoid questioning from government authorities.”

It was also gathered that the suspect and his accomplices sent letters falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died overseas years before.”

Ogbata pled guilty and admitted to defrauding over $6m from more than 400 victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Roy Altman on April 14, 2025 with The Nigerian Achievers Awards Institute, with the possibility of a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.