Nigerian extradited to US for romance fraud, money laundering

A Nigerian, Samuel Ugberase, indicted for wire fraud, has been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face prosecution.

The US Department of Justice said Mr Ugberase was extradited for his role in a romance scam and money laundering scheme.

In a statement on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice stated that he was indicted in 2021 by a grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Mr Ugberaese is accused of using online romance scams to deceive victims into sending money under false pretences.

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Prosecutors said he and his co-conspirators, including a naturalised Nigerian, Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, used fake identities, fabricated stories and false promises to manipulate victims.

“According to the indictment, Ugberaese and his co-conspirators used romance scheme techniques, including false stories and promises, to exploit and defraud victims into transferring money on their behalf.”

Authorities accused Mr Ugberaese of working with Mr Kolaogunbule to move proceeds of the alleged fraud through a network of bank accounts.

Some of the accounts were opened in the names of export businesses and used to conceal the origin and ownership of funds obtained from the scams.

“The indictment further alleges that Ugberaese conspired with a co-defendant, Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, a naturalised US citizen, to conduct financial transactions through his bank account network, including accounts registered to purported export companies, to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the criminal proceeds,” the statement read.

The FBI arrested Mr Ugberaese upon his arrival in the US.

“If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.”

The US Department of Justice also said the case is being prosecuted by an assistant US Attorney of the Fraud Section in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Adam Hulbig.

It also stated that several agencies collaborated in securing the suspect’s arrest and extradition.

These include the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Abuja, the U.S. Department of State, and the Nigerian Ministry of Justice.

Others are the Attorney General’s Office, the Nigeria Police Force through INTERPOL, and the South African Police Service.

This is the latest case of a Nigerian extradited to the US for cyber fraud.

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Nigeria’s extradition treaty with the US was signed by the colonial government in 1931. This treaty has since been used to extradite several individuals for drug trafficking, fraud, terrorism, and other related crimes.

In 2023, two Nigerians, Samuel Ogoshi and Samson Ogoshi, were extradited to the US from Nigeria after they were indicted for sexually extorting numerous teenage boys in Michigan.

Another case was reported in 2019 involving 56-year-old Adedeji Adeniran, who was extradited to the Northern District of Florida.

One notable high-profile extradition from Nigeria to the US involved Fatade Olamilekan, who was extradited in July 2022 to face charges related to a $3.5 million fraud scheme.

Mr Olamilekan had been on the FBI’s wanted list for allegedly stealing over $3.5 million worth of equipment and had his extradition coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).