Everyone’s fantasy: a rich relative you never knew about dies and leaves you several million dollars. Your first thought is, “This will change my life.” For 400 U.S. senior citizens who were conned out of $6 million over a five-year period, that statement proved to be all-to-true.

This “morally reprehensible” scheme was finally concluded earlier this year when U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams sentenced the last member of the gang, Amos Prince Okey Ezemma, to seven years and one month in federal prison for mail and wire fraud. The maximum sentence for the crimes was 20 years in prison.

Williams also ordered Ezemma and his five cohorts to pay $6 million in restitution to their victims.

“Targeting the elderly for pure financial gain is beyond shameful, it’s morally reprehensible,” Special Agent in Charge Francisco B. Burrola of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-Arizona said in a Department of Justice press release announcing Ezemma’s sentencing.

“Protecting such a vulnerable population is not just the responsibility of family members but also law enforcement agencies like HSI and our partners. Together, we are a force multiplier committed to apprehending those who scam our seniors,” Burrola said.

The six Nigerian nationals were indicted in February 2023. Three lived in Spain, and three lived in England while they operated their fraud ring.

Once the wheels of justice began turning, Judge Willams knocked them over like dominoes.

Emmanuel Samuel was sentenced to 82 months in prison on July 21, 2023. Jerry Chucks Ozor received 87 months on July 25, 2023. On Aug. 29, 2023, it was Iheanychukwu Jonathan Abraham’s turn, getting a 90-month prison term. Williams handed Kennedy Ikponmwosa a sentence of 87 months on Oct. 20, 2023. The longest sentence went to Ezennia Peter Neboh on Nov. 2, 2023 – 10 years and eight months.

What They Did
DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Service Investigation Service conducted the investigation, with assistance from the National Crime Agency, Spanish National Police, Portuguese Judicial Police and law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

Investigators found the six fraudsters sent personalized letters to elderly victims, claiming to represent a Spanish bank and telling them a deceased relative living in Portugal had left them an inheritance of several million dollars, according to the indictment of Ezemma and his co-conspirators.

Source: DailyMuck