Amechi Colvis Amuegbunam, 28, of Lagos, in the U.S. on a student visa has been charged in a federal indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was arrested in August, 2015, on a
related federal criminal complaint, filed earlier the year in Texas, when he entered the U.S. in Baltimore, Maryland.
The indictment alleges that from November 2013 through August 2015, Amuegbunam and other individuals, sent, and caused to be sent, fraudulent e-mails to companies, containing material misrepresentations that caused the companies to wire transfer funds as instructed on a pdf document that was attached to the e-mail.
Amuegbunam is responsible for more than a $1.3m attempted loss, and a $615,550 actual loss, to U.S. companies, including Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase. The FBI is investigating an extensive money laundering and wire fraud scheme primarily operated by individuals in Nigeria.
The fraud is assisted by individuals in the U.S., who are exploiting open source information and using social engineering techniques to steal millions of dollars from U.S. corporations and individuals. The investigation traced the creation of some of the pdfs to Amuegbunam. .
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has been tracking this scheme and to date, perpetrators of the scheme have victimized more than 7000 businesses based in the U.S. and more than 1000 foreign-based businesses. The total loss to the U.S. victims is approximately $747m.
If convicted, the conspiracy to commit wire fraud offense carries a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a $1m fine. The FBI has identified and is investigating 5 other conspirators who live in Nigeria….. n r always shouting “no wire no light.”……
