A man was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for leading a conspiracy that laundered money stolen from victims of romance scams and business email fraud, causing a total loss of nearly $1 million, officials said Tuesday.
Okechukwu Nwofor, 32, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced Monday to 70 months behind bars by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson, who also ordered him to pay $392,296 in restitution. During the hearing, Wilson described Nwofor as the "kingpin" of the scheme as well as the "personification of evil," according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Nwofor pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In his plea agreement, Nwofor admitted to leading a money laundering conspiracy from at least July 2018 to August 2019. Nwofor used a network of individuals who received fraudulent proceeds obtained from the victims of romance and business email compromise scams. Once the stolen funds were received, Nwofor and his accomplices quickly withdrew or transferred the money into accounts they controlled.
In September 2018, a romance scam victim who lived in Pasadena wired about $19,000 to a New York-based bank account controlled by one of Nwofor's accomplices. Over the course of three days, the accomplice -- at Nwofor's direction -- wired nearly $16,140 of the stolen money to a Nwofor-controlled bank account.
To accomplish the scheme, Nwofor opened bank accounts in his name and the name of an Albany, New York-based company he founded, Juboy New Generation Inc. Using these accounts as well as others controlled by his co-conspirators, Nwofor regularly laundered money stolen by his co-conspirators via romance scams and business email compromise scams, which were sent to them from victims via interstate wires, according to the DOJ.
Nwofor typically charged his co-conspirators roughly 20% of the incoming funds, and then distributed a portion of the remaining funds to his accomplices and others.
The total losses in the scheme exceeded $930,000.
Nwofor and his co-conspirators' criminal conduct "left many of the victims in dire straits, including one victim's inability to care for her disabled son ... and even one victim tragically taking her own life," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in Los Angeles federal court.
Four other defendants in the case admitted their roles as money mules and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Three of them received probationary sentences and one awaits sentencing, prosecutors noted.
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