A Nigerian, Emmanuel Ehkator who was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for criminal conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the United States of America has been sentenced by District Court Judge, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Yvette Kane, to a three-year term. He is also ordered to pay $11,092,028 in restitution to his victims.
The conviction of Ehkator, 42, who was
arrested in Nigeria by the
EFCC in August 2010 and extradited to the United States in August 2011,
followed his plea of guilt.
Justice Kane also ordered Ehkator’s
forfeiture of properties in Canada
and the contents of several bank accounts in Nigeria.
While the trial lasted, the prosecutor
informed the court that Ehkator was part of an attorney collection scam. Their
modus operandi, he said was for the convict to contact U.S. and Canadian law firms by e-mail claiming
to be individuals or businesses outside North America who were owed money by
entities in the United
States and asked for legal representation to
collect the money.
The prosecutor further told the court that,
“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 U.S. entity
purportedly owing money with an offer to pay the client by cheque. The client
would instruct 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”.
The cheque
that was then mailed to the law firm would be a counterfeit cheque, a fact that
would be discovered only after funds from the law firm’s trust account had been
wired to the Asian bank, the prosecution said.
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. Lawyers
attempting to determine the validity of the cheque would call the number only
to reach another conspirator who would falsely verify the cheque. The court was
also told that Ehkator’s involvement in the scheme makes him responsible for
losses of more than $7 million and up to $20 million.
Ehkator’s co-defendant, Yvette Mathurin,
has also been charged for conspiracy and is awaiting extradition from Canada while another co-conspirator, Kingsley
Osagie, was arrested as he arrived in the Atlanta
area from Nigeria
and is currently awaiting trial in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Other
co-conspirators are pending extradition from several foreign countries as
investigation continues against other members of the large, multi-national
conspiracy.
Aside from the EFCC, other agencies that
investigated the crime were 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. It was prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy H. Fawcett.
Wilson Uwujaren
Ag.
Head, Media & Publicity
11th
September, 2013
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