$30m Fraud: 29- Year-Old Nigerian Faces 621 Years In US Prison – FBI

The United States Department of Justice disclosed that a 29-year-old Nigerian, Chidozie Collins Obasi, is wanted in the United States to face fraud trial in which he would be facing a maximum sentence of 621 years in prison, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $5,750,000 fine if convicted.

He and fellow conspirators are wanted for alleged over $30 million multi-faceted fraud scheme.

The US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced this in a statement .

The Attorney said that Obasi was “charged by Indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, and 16 counts of wire fraud, all stemming from a complicated, evolving fraud scheme that initially targeted Americans through a spam email campaign offering illegitimate work from home jobs, and then during the COVID-19 pandemic shifted to targeting U.S. hospitals and medical systems by offering non-existent ventilators for sale beginning in March 2020, and finally shifted again in June 2020 to using the stolen identity information of American citizens to apply for and obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EID Loans”).”

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the suspect has since been declared wanted.

“Later, in approximately June 2020, the Indictment alleges that Obasi and his co-conspirators took advantage of the EID Loan program by using stolen identities of U.S. citizens to apply for and obtain more than $135,000 in EID Loan proceeds.

“An Indictment, Information, or Criminal Complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.,” the US judiciary arm added in a statement on Friday.