Nigerian jailed in US for $11m fraud

A Nigerian, Emmanuel Ehkator, has been
sentenced by a District Court Judge, Middle
District of Pennsylvania in the United States to
three years in prison for $11m fraud.
Ehkator, who was also investigated by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for
criminal conspiracy to commit mail and wire
fraud, was ordered by the court to pay $
11,092,028 “in restitution” to his victims.
Ehkator’s property in Canada and the “contents
of several bank accounts” in Nigeria were also
declared forfeited by Justice Yvette Kane.
A statement by the EFCC Head, Media and
Publicity, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said the
commission had in August 2010, arrested 42–
year-old Ehkator in Nigeria. He was
subsequently extradited to the US a year after
following his plea of guilt.
The statement said the prosecutor, Assistant US
Attorney, Christy H. Fawcett, told the court
that Ehkator was part of an “attorney
collection scam” in which he would contact US
and Canadian law firms by email.
It said Ehkator would claim to be individuals or
businesses outside North America owed money
by entities in the US and asked for legal
representation to collect money.
The prosecutor had said, “Often, the
prospective clients said the money owed came
from a real estate transaction, tort claim, or
divorce settlement. Once the law firm agreed
to represent the out-of-country client, the law
firm would be contacted by the US entity
purportedly owing money with an offer to pay
the client by cheque.
“The debtor company would advise the law
firm to deposit the cheque in the law firm’s
trust account, retain the law firm’s fee, and
wire the remaining funds to accounts in Asia.”
It was learnt that after funds from the law
firm’s trust account had been wired to the
Asian bank, it would then be discovered that
the cheque that had been mailed to the law
firm was a counterfeit.
The counterfeit cheques, which appeared to be
drawn on legitimate accounts from well-
established financial institutions, often
included a telephone number for the financial
institution.
In an attempt to determine the validity of the
cheque, lawyers would call the number only to
reach another conspirator who would falsely
verify the cheque.
Ehkator’s co-defendant, Yvette Mathurin, was
said to have been charged for conspiracy and
was awaiting extradition from Canada. Another
co-conspirator, Kingsley Osagie, was arrested
as he arrived in the Atlanta, Georgia area from
Nigeria and was said to be currently awaiting
trial in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The United States Postal Inspection Service, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United
States Secret Service, the Toronto Police
Services and the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police were said to be involved in the
investigations into the wire fraud.
Ehkator’s involvement in the scheme was said
to have made him responsible for losses of
“more than $7m and up to $20m.”