DISGRACEFUL:
I am guilty of STEALING over $900,000 being proceeds of Scam against Seven companies in United States and Abroad’-EMEKA NDUKWU, Nigerian born Naturalized American
….Confesses to U.S. District Court of Columbia: ‘I know I am guilty of Money Laundering’
*46 year old Nigerian Faces 57 months in prison and a fine of up to $200,000
*Agreed to forfeit his 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL450 and money judgment forfeiture in the amount of $429,848, Scheduled to be sentenced on July 19, 2018
* “Ndukwu participated in an ongoing conspiracy from 2013 through 2017 to receive and launder the proceeds of various cyber frauds, primarily arising from business e-mail compromise schemes”-Court document
*INVESTIGATION conducted by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office
BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/AMERICAN Foreign Bureau Chief
HE’S A DISGRACE TO NIGERIAN AND AMERICAN COMMUNITIES. EMEKA NDUKWU, a Nigerian born man who came to United States over a decade ago and later turned a Naturalized American had been living a life of crime on the fast lane until the long arm of the law in United States finally caught up with him.
At the age of 46 years when his mates in lawful employment are busy following the path of legality in their careers to make their families proud, Ndukwu rather prefers to be neck-deep into criminality.
This resident of Upper Marlboro has pleaded guilty to allegation of laundering over $900,000 being the proceeds of scams against seven companies in the United States and abroad.
This was made known by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office. In a reported statement by the FBI, Ndukwu, a dual citizen of the United States and Nigeria, pleads guilty in the United States District Court of Columbia to one count charge of money laundering conspiracy.
Accordingly, this charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Ndukwu faces a likely range of 57 months in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.
Additionally, as part of the plea deal, Ndukwu agreed to forfeit his 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL450 and the entry of a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $429,848, representing the share of the criminal proceeds that Ndukwu personally obtained.
Going by court document filed at the time of the plea, Ndukwu participated in an ongoing conspiracy from 2013 through 2017 to receive and launder the proceeds of various cyber frauds, primarily arising from business e-mail (“BEC”) compromise schemes.
In a typical BEC scheme, a co-conspirator tricks a company into transferring large sums of money into accounts controlled by others participating in the scheme. Using fake e-mails, often containing forged sender addresses, co-conspirators impersonate someone connected to the victim company and deceive an employee of that company into wiring funds. Soon after the wire transfers are completed, the co-conspirators drain the bank accounts and launder the criminal proceeds.
The conspiracy targeted seven companies in the United States and overseas, having victims in Texas, Illinois, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, and China. The victims were fraudulently induced into sending $916,056 in wire transfers to accounts controlled by Ndukwu and other co-conspirators.
The funds were then laundered through transactions conducted in Washington, D.C. and other jurisdictions, including layering through shell company accounts and accounts controlled by co-conspirators.
Court document claims Ndukwu used false aliases and forged Nigerian passports to facilitate these schemes as he used encrypted messaging to communicate with co-conspirators.
Ndukwu was indicted in December 2017, has been in custody since his arrest that month, while he is scheduled to be sentenced on July 19, 2018. A co-defendant, Chuka Mbonu, 33, of Nigeria, remains at large.
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