File Photo: Ibekie as seen in a 2018 post on his Facebook page
Two Nigerians, Anthony Emeka Ibekie (59-year-old) and Samuel Aniukwu (50), living in Chicago, Illinois, USA, have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for online frauds, including inheritance and love scams.
A U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on Thursday sentenced Ibekie to 20 years in federal prison, while his partner, Aniukwu bagged a 10-year jail term.
The United States of America’s Attorney General’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois said the duo was involved in online scams by convincing their victims that they inherited huge sums of money for which they needed assistance to claim.
A statement by the USAGO, said, “Using aliases Ibekie and Aniukwu, communicated with victims throughout the United States, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to individuals associated with the defendants to claim it.
Ibekie, according to his Facebook bio, “studied at Central America Health Science University”, but detectives who worked to unravel his identity described him as a fraudster who carried out online scams that involved inc communicating with victims via social media and dating websites.
Along with his partner in crime, Aniukwu, Ibekie “also orchestrated a “business email compromise” scam that targeted corporate email accounts.
“The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.”
According to documents obtained by Naija Daily News, a federal jury earlier this year convicted Ibekie, of Oswego, Ill., on all 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud.
Aniukwu, 50, of Romeoville, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Judge Seeger on Nov. 8, 2024, sentenced Aniukwu to ten years in prison.
A third defendant, JENNIFER GOSHA, 52, a U.S. citizen from Oak Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. Gosha is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seeger on Dec. 18, 2024.
