Four Nigerians were sentenced here to years in federal prison recently for their parts in a years-long, international romance scam.
Reagan Fondren, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentences Tuesday. The group was indicted with conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering in June 2023.
Those indicted were:
• Patrick Edah, 40, a Nigerian citizen residing in the Toronto, Canada area
• Efe Egbowawa, 41, a Nigerian citizen residing in the Atlanta area
• Igocha Mac-Okor, 40, a Nigerian citizen residing in the Atlanta area
• Kay Ozegbe, 44, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Atlanta
The group operated the conspiracy from 2017 to 2021. They assumed false identities on social media, gaming applications, dating websites, and other internet-based platforms to trick victims into entering friendships and romantic relationships. They then played various roles in exploiting those connections to convince individuals to send them money via wire, check, U.S. mail, and package delivery services.
Dozens of victims lost amounts ranging from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars. One victim in West Tennessee lost more than $400,000 to this scheme over the course of several months.
In the conspiracy, romance scammers or “handlers” posed as potential friends or romantic partners and entered online relationships with unwitting victims. The relationships usually developed quickly through social media contact, text messages, email, and phone calls.
Once the victim was clearly engaged in the scam, the scammer would begin to ask for emergency financial assistance. If the victim sent money, the scammer would ask for increasingly larger amounts of financial assistance.
Edah, Egbowawa, Mac-Okor, and Ozegbe functioned as “money mules” in the conspiracy. They worked in conjunction with other members of the conspiracy to move the financial proceeds of the scams through several layers of bank accounts and shell companies to hide the sources of the money and made it difficult to trace.
For their roles, Egbowawa was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison, Ozegbe was sentenced to 36 months, Edah and Mac-Okor were sentenced to 30 months and 50 months, respectively.
“These individuals used deception and fraud to prey on the vulnerable causing unmeasurable emotional damage and significant financial losses,” said Special Agent in Charge Joe Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office, Memphis Resident Agency.