A Nigerian national, Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison in the United States for his role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims of over $6 million.
The sentencing was announced on Saturday by the Office of Public Affairs of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to U.S. authorities, the scheme targeted elderly and vulnerable individuals across the United States, with more than 400 victims falling prey to the operation over several years.
Court records revealed that Nnebocha worked alongside multiple co-conspirators operating across different countries to carry out the fraud. The operation relied heavily on deception and emotional manipulation, with victims falsely led to believe they were beneficiaries of large inheritances.
Prosecutors said the conspirators sent hundreds of thousands of personalised letters to elderly Americans, posing as representatives of a Spanish bank. The letters claimed that the recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives.
Victims were subsequently instructed to pay various fees, including taxes, delivery charges and administrative costs, before the supposed inheritance could be released. In reality, no such inheritance existed.
“In total, the defendant and his co-conspirators defrauded over 400 U.S. victims of more than $6 million,” the Department of Justice said.
At sentencing, the court imposed a 97-month prison term on Nnebocha, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay over $6.8 million in restitution to the victims.
Nnebocha’s conviction followed a coordinated international law enforcement effort. He was arrested in Poland in April 2025 following a request by U.S. authorities and was extradited to the United States in September 2025.
In November 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud under U.S. federal law.
U.S. officials noted that Nnebocha is not the only Nigerian national convicted in connection with the scheme. In July 2025, another Nigerian, Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, was sentenced for his role in the same fraud operation.
Authorities said the case forms part of a wider crackdown on international fraud networks targeting American citizens. Eight co-conspirators from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and Nigeria have already been convicted and sentenced.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations, with support from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and Polish law enforcement.
U.S. prosecutors reaffirmed their commitment to dismantling cross-border fraud syndicates, noting that similar cases involving Nigerian nationals have resulted in lengthy prison sentences in recent years.
