May 20, (THEWILL) — The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has secured the arrest and extradition of a Nigerian, Samuel Ugberaese, to the United States to face prosecution over his alleged role in a transnational cyber romance fraud and money laundering scheme targeting victims across several countries.
Ugberaese was extradited following coordinated operations involving Nigerian, American and South African law enforcement authorities, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, citing the U.S. Department of Justice.
The U.S. authorities alleged that Ugberaese and members of his criminal network operated sophisticated romance scams in which victims were manipulated through fake online relationships and deceived into transferring funds.
According to the statement, the suspect allegedly collaborated with a co-defendant, Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, a naturalised U.S. citizen, to move and conceal proceeds of the fraud through a network of bank accounts linked to purported export businesses.
“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,” the statement said.
The U.S. Department of Justice further alleged that the bank accounts used by the syndicate were deliberately structured to conceal “the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the criminal proceeds.”
Investigators said the alleged fraud scheme formed part of a broader pattern of organised cyber-enabled financial crimes increasingly being tracked across international jurisdictions.
The statement disclosed that Ugberaese had earlier been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury on January 22, 2021, but was only recently arrested and extradited to the United States after extensive international collaboration.
He is currently standing trial on two federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
If convicted, Ugberaese faces a maximum combined sentence of 40 years imprisonment under U.S. federal law.
A U.S. District Judge, Brian Myers, has ordered the defendant remanded in custody pending the determination of the case.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Hulbig under the Fraud Section of the Eastern District of North Carolina United States Attorney’s Office (EDNC USAO).
The U.S. government also acknowledged the support of several law enforcement and judicial institutions involved in the extradition process, including the Nigeria Police Force, INTERPOL, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, the South African Police Service, the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Abuja, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
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