Two California men were sentenced on Nov. 15 to up to 11 years in federal prison for participating in an international multimillion-dollar fraud and money-laundering scheme involving Nigerian nationals.
George Ugochukwu Egwumba, 47, of Cypress, was sentenced to 132 months and Princewell Arinze Duru, 33, of Sacramento, was sentenced to 81 months by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
In June, the men were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Egwumba was found guilty of aggravated identity theft, and Duru was convicted of wire fraud, and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft.
Participants in the scheme, including Egwumba and Duru, orchestrated fraudulent business email, malware, and elder fraud, as well as romance scams, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Members of the scheme in Nigeria connected with participants in the United States through middlemen—who assisted in receiving and laundering money through U.S. bank accounts, money transmitting services such as Western Union or MoneyGram, or cryptocurrency, according to prosecutors.
In exchange, the middlemen received a percentage of the fraudulently obtained funds.
Egwumba acted as a middleman securing and sharing bank account information and using malware and other cybercrime tools. Likewise, Duru aided others in receiving and laundering the fraudulently obtained money by opening fake business accounts, transferring money, and using cryptocurrency wallets.
Duru registered a shell business in Sacramento County and later used the company to open business bank accounts at two banks. These accounts were used to receive fraud proceeds, including from one victim who was deceived into depositing approximately $25,600 into one of the accounts.
The scheme involved the laundering of at least $6 million in fraudulently obtained funds and the attempted theft of at least an additional $40 million, according to prosecutors.
The indictment charged 80 defendants, of which 19 pleaded guilty.
Additional defendants have been arrested in Nigeria, and others are believed to be at large.
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