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Advance Fee fraud: Enwerem Okojie jailed nine years in US

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on March 1, 2011 at 9:18pm
12166299892?profile=originalA United States District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina has sentenced a Nigerian, Ugochukwu Enwerem, aka Joseph Smith, to nine years imprisonment on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and 14 counts of wire fraud.

The US Justice Department said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday said District Judge Graham Mullen also ordered Enwerem to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. In addition, Enwerem was ordered to forfeit $9,453,815 (N1,447,804,538.57) and to pay restitution in the same amount, jointly and severally with fellow Nigerian and co-defendant, Kent Okojie.
Enwerem was found guilty in March 2010 by a federal jury in the Western District of North Carolina on the 15 counts, the statement said. In September 2009, his co-accused pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to 72 months in prison in November...
Okojie and Enwerem, who resided in the Netherlands, were originally charged in a June 2007 complaint.
They were subsequently extradited to the US from The Netherlands, where they had been in custody on Dutch charges.
The statement also contained excerpts from court documents.
It said, "Evidence at trial showed that between at least August 25, 2004 and April 23, 2007, Enwerem and his co-conspirators solicited individuals in the United States, Europe and Australia by sending spam e-mails informing potential victims that they had either won a foreign lottery, inherited a large sum of money from a long lost relative, or were eligible to recover outstanding construction contract payments.
"When individuals responded to the e-mails, the defendants, posing as lawyers, bankers and European government officials, solicited fees from victims ostensibly to pay for things such as 'anti-terrorism certificates', 'EU bank clearances', 'anti-money laundering certificates', and legal fees in order to secure their purported lotto winnings, inheritance or contract payments."
The US Justice Department stated that Enwerem and Okojie instructed American victims "to wire funds, using Western Union and other money transfer services, to them and their designees in The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom...
"According to trial testimony, at least 18 US and international victims were defrauded of more than $9.5m during the period when Enwerem was a member of the conspiracy."
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N1.6m ATM fraud: Customer drags bank to court

Posted by 9jabook.com on December 7, 2009 at 7:33pm
Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare and Omankhanlen Odidison report the plight of a bank customer who alleged that fraudsters stole money from his account with Automated Teller Machine while the bank claimed innocence. advertisement THE increasing cases of fraud perpetrated through automated Teller Machine (ATM) have been causing sleepless nights to virtually all security outfits in Nigeria, bank executives, and especially ordinary Nigerians, operating accounts in various banks. All efforts towards eradicating this crime by banks and security personnel in the country have proved abortive while the problem has defied all solutions proffered by professionals. As a result, ATM fraud continues to thrive in the country. Another disturbing aspect of ATM fraud is the allegation that it could not be possible without the connivance of insiders in the banks, but the link has so far not been authenticated. Also, many syndicates said to have been apprehended by security operatives never paid back what they stole. Many victims have, as a result of this, taken ATM fraud as personal issue to be resolved by individuals involved in the way they deem fit. Akintayo Afolabi Akinbode is one of those victims who had decided to take legal action as a means of recouping his stolen money. What was his solution? He decided to go to court, based on his belief that the bank cannot claim innocence of the fraud perpetrated on his account which he operates in one of its branches in the state. Meanwhile, the lingering altercation between Mr. Akintayo Afolabi Akinbode and Sterling Bank over the unauthorized withdrawals from his account via ATM, has continued unabated with the bank keeping mum. Efforts by the Nigerian Tribune to get the bank’s officials to react to this development proved abortive as they refused to comment. Narrating his ordeal to the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos, Akintayo said, a total sum of N1,630, 300.00, was withdrawn from his account No – 226/20449/110 domiciled in Ikoyi branch of the bank between 18th May and 26th June this year, without his knowledge or notice, stating that efforts to get the bank to redress the anomaly proved abortive. According to him, he operated two accounts at the Ikoyi branch of the bank and was last year issued two ATM cards, though he did not request for any, stating that when he tried to activate the cards, the activation process failed, and he immediately notified the bank. He said that since the cards could not be activated last year, he had neither reactivated nor used it to make withdrawals from his accounts. He further explained that any withdrawal of money that were in excess of N100, 000 from his account were always confirmed through a phone call to him or his wife by one Mrs. Sherifat Adediwin, through mobile phone number 08025019938 or 01- 7301077 before such payments were made. He is still wondering how the said amount was withdrawn from his account without his knowledge. Akintayo, who is already in court, had filed a writ of summons against his bank, Sterling Bank Plc, at the High Court of Lagos State through his counsel, Olaleke Akinloye Esq. to demand for some declarations and orders. He is asking for a declaration of the court that the alleged activation of the ATM card by his bank without his knowledge or notice is illegal; a declaration that all the alleged withdrawals made with the said ATM card between 18th May 2009 and 26th June 2009, without his notice, were illegal; and a declaration that the bank owed him care, by virtue of customer/bank relationship. The bank, he said, had breached the said care by allowing and permitting the usage of an ATM card for withdrawals of his money without his knowledge. Also, he is asking for an order mandating the bank to refund N1, 630, 300, being the total sum of money withdrawn from his account, with 10 per cent interest per month, beginning from 26th June until the money is fully refunded. He is also asking for the sum of N5,000,000 as damages, and N500, 000 as cost of legal action. Akintayo said following the discovery of the unauthorised withdrawals with the ATM card on 26th June this year, he immediately notified his bank that the said ATM card be hot-listed or deactivated, and further transactions on the account be suspended, and immediate commencement of investigations to unravel the masterminds of the said withdrawals be conducted. He, however, claimed that the bank refused to honour his instruction concerning his account. As a result, after the day, a total sum of N75, 000 was still withdrawn from his account with an ATM card. The bank, on their part, decided to write back to Akintayo, denying liability for the unauthorised withdrawals. In his final resolve, Akintayo, through his counsel, claimed that the almost daily withdrawals from his account with ATM, without notifying him, was planned, hatched and executed by his bank, or in collusion with other persons
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