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."
