Nigerians sentenced to jail in US over $3.5m romance scam

Two Nigerians, identified as Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, have been sentenced to 30 years in jail by a United States federal jury over a $3.5m romance scam.

The US Department of Justice disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

It was gathered that the duo defrauded some US citizens, deceiving their victims by telling them that they had received substantial inheritances that required some money to claim.

The duo would then request their victims to send some amounts of money with a promise to refund them once the inheritances were claimed.

The statement also disclosed that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding them to send money after they had built trust in their victims.

The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.

Following their arraignment on no fewer than 14 counts, the duo pleaded guilty to their various charges.

Upon their guilty plea, Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years jail term while Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years jail term.