United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday said that a 43-year-old Nigerian, Tochuwku Nnebocha, has been extradited from the Republic of Poland to face federal charges for operating a transnational criminal organisation that defrauded elderly Americans of millions of dollars.
The DOJ disclosed this in a statement issued and posted on its website on Monday.
Based on the DOJ’s statement, Nnebocha, who has been in custody in Poland since his arrest in April 2025, made his initial appearance in federal court in Miami, Florida, following his arrest by Polish authorities based on an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida.
The court documents obtained by the DOJ stated that Nnebocha is charged with operating an inheritance fraud scheme spanning more than five years.
He and his accomplices allegedly sent personalised letters to elderly consumers in the US, falsely claiming that the recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives in Spain.
It was said that victims were instructed to pay delivery fees, taxes, or other payments to avoid questioning by government authorities before they could receive their supposed inheritance.
“Victims who sent money never received any of the purported inheritance funds.
“The payments were routed through a complex network of US-based former victims, who were manipulated into forwarding money to the defendants or their associates,” DOJ stated.
Nnebocha faces charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as mail and wire fraud. If convicted, he could face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
Other defendants, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, extradited from Portugal, and Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, extradited from the United Kingdom, have previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 97 months in prison for their roles in the scheme.
Logo: US Department of Justice