{"id":11378,"date":"2019-08-02T02:23:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T02:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=5622"},"modified":"2019-08-02T02:23:45","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T02:23:45","slug":"bitcom-fraud-in-america-f-b-i-investigating-two-nigerians-indicted-for-stealing-59000-from-oregon-and-california-investors-interpol-on-red-alert-for-suspects-arrest-u-s-govt-slams-13-count-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/bitcom-fraud-in-america-f-b-i-investigating-two-nigerians-indicted-for-stealing-59000-from-oregon-and-california-investors-interpol-on-red-alert-for-suspects-arrest-u-s-govt-slams-13-count-c\/","title":{"rendered":"BITCOM FRAUD IN AMERICA: F.B.I investigating Two NIGERIANS indicted for STEALING $59,000 from Oregon and California investors…Interpol on red alert for suspects’ arrest * U.S. Govt slams 13-count charge on ONWUEMERIE OGOR, KELVIN USIFOH for scheme to defraud American victims * Suspects bought deceitful websites to lure unsuspecting American victim, promising investors fake 20 to 50 percent returns on bitcoin investment with zero risk\/instant withdrawals * Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy on issued an investor alert to warn about websites touting advisory and trading businesses related to digital assets * ‘After receiving bitcoin transfers from the investors, Gift and Usifoh would transfer the bitcoin to other accounts and eventually exchange it for Nigerian Naira. They never returned the money to the victims’-Prosecutors BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN FOREIGN BUREAU CHIEF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BITCOM FRAUD IN AMERICA:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

F.B.I investigating Two\nNIGERIANS indicted for STEALING $59,000 from Oregon and California\ninvestors…Interpol on red\nalert for suspects’ arrest<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* U.S. Govt slams 13-count charge on ONWUEMERIE\nOGOR, KELVIN USIFOH for scheme to defraud American victims<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Suspects bought deceitful websites to lure\nunsuspecting American victim, promising investors fake 20 to 50\npercent returns on bitcoin investment with zero risk\/instant\nwithdrawals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Securities\nand Exchange Commission\u2019s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy\non issued an investor alert to warn about websites touting advisory\nand trading businesses related to digital assets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* ‘After receiving bitcoin transfers from the\ninvestors, Gift and Usifoh would transfer the bitcoin to other\naccounts and eventually exchange it for Nigerian Naira. They never\nreturned the money to the victims’-Prosecutors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN FOREIGN BUREAU\nCHIEF<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THEY ARE NIGERIANS, DESPERATELY LIVING ON A FAST\nLANE IN THEIR HIDEOUTS IN NIGERIA having defrauded harmless American\ninvestors in Oregon and California to the tune of $59,000 by using\nfake websites they purchase as a tool to stealing funds from the\npeople. ONWUMERIE OGOR GIFT and KELVIN USIFOH are these two\nNigerians that have brought opprobrium to Africa’s most populous\nblack nation. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the moment, these two Nigerians are presently\nfacing a 13-count federal indictment alleging they engaged in an\nonline scheme to defraud victims of bitcoin virtual currency. Gift,\n24, and Usifoh are each charged with one count of conspiracy to\ncommit wire fraud, one count of money laundering and 11 counts of\nwire fraud. Authorities don\u2019t know Usifoh\u2019s age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal authorities are still in search of these two\nmen and presently seeking Interpol red notice to help in arresting\nthe pair. Gift and Usifoh bought www.wealthcurrency.com and published\nvarious webpages promising investors 20 to 50% returns on investments\nof bitcoin with zero risk and instant withdrawals, according to the\nindictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They actively encouraged people to transfer bitcoin\nto private virtual currency wallets and made numerous false claims\nincluding that the bitcoins would be invested using \u201cunique trading\nmethods\u201d and would maintain a \u201cconstant high interest rate,”\naccording to prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two men also are accused of creating other\nwebsites perpetuating the same scheme including www.boomcurrency. and\nwww.merrycurrency.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From December 2017 through June 2018, Gift and Usifoh\nare alleged to have conspired to defraud three people, one living in\nOregon and two in California. A photo of a fourth person was used to\ncreate a false persona used to further the fraud, prosecutors allege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indictment alleges that in just over six months,\nthe defendants stole 10.88 bitcoins worth about $59,000 from the\nOregon and California investors. In total, the government says Gift\nand Usifoh received more than 50 bitcoins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After receiving bitcoin transfers from the investors,\nGift and Usifoh would transfer the bitcoin to other accounts and\neventually exchange it for Nigerian Naira, prosecutors say. They\nnever returned the money, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nFBI is investigating the case. Presently, The Securities and Exchange\nCommission\u2019s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an\ninvestor alert to warn about websites touting advisory and trading\nbusinesses related to digital assets. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BITCOM FRAUD IN AMERICA: F.B.I investigating Two NIGERIANS indicted for STEALING $59,000 from Oregon and California investors…Interpol on red alert for suspects’ arrest * U.S. Govt slams 13-count charge on ONWUEMERIE OGOR, KELVIN USIFOH for scheme to defraud American victims * Suspects bought deceitful websites to lure unsuspecting American victim, promising investors fake 20 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[129,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-11378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-nigeria-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}