Four Nigerians have been sentenced to prison in connection with a series of romance scams across the United States.
Those sentenced include:
- Patrick Edah, 40, Nigerian citizen residing in the Toronto, Canada area
- Efe Egbowawa, 41, Nigerian citizen residing in the Atlanta area
- Igocha Mac-Okor, 40, Nigerian citizen residing in the Atlanta area
- Kay Ozegbe, 44, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in the Atlanta area
All four defendants were found guilty of conspiring to commit money laundering as part of a scheme that misled people into mailing or wiring money to fake agents and shell corporations using email accounts and false identities on online dating services, according to documents.
To try to deceive people into forming friendships and romantic relationships, they used false identities on dating websites, gaming apps, social media, and other online platforms between 2017 and November 2021, according to evidence shown in court.
They also took on different roles in exploiting the connections to convince people to pay them money through package delivery services, wire transfers, checks, and U.S. mail.
The romance scammers posed as potential friends or romantic partners and entered online relationships with victims.
Edah, Egbowawa, Mac-Okor, and Ozegbe worked as “money mules” in the conspiracy to cover up where the money came from, according to court documents.
This made it challenging to track the money and all four individuals worked with others to transfer the frauds’ financial gains through multiple tiers of bank accounts and shell corporations.
Egbowawa was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison on April 17, 2024. Ozegbe was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison on Sept. 23, 2024.
On Oct. 30, 2024, Edah and Mac-Okor were sentenced to 30 months and 50 months in federal prison.
