By John Ogunsemore
A Nigerian based in Poland, Tochuwku Albert Nnebocha has been extradited to the United States, where he has been indicted on federal charges of engaging in a transnational criminal organisation that operated an inheritance fraud scheme that cheated many American seniors out of their savings.
The Office of Public Affairs of the US Department of Justice disclosed this in a Monday statement.
Nnebocha, 43, was arrested in April 2025 by authorities in Poland, based on an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida, and has remained incarcerated since then.
Nnebocha made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami on Monday.
According to court documents, Nnebocha is charged with operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme.
“Over the course of more than five years, he, along with others, allegedly sent personalised letters to elderly consumers in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who purportedly had died years before in Spain.
Victims were told that, before they could receive their purported inheritance, they were required to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and payments to avoid questioning from government authorities.
“Victims sent money to the defendants through a complex web of US-based former victims, whom the defendants convinced to receive money and forward to the defendants or persons associated with them,” the DoJ said.
Victims who sent money never received their purported inheritance funds.
Nnebocha is charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as mail fraud and wire fraud.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Two additional defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in this case. The Honorable Roy K. Altman previously sentenced both Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, who was extradited from Portugal, and Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, who was extradited from the United Kingdom, to 97 months of incarceration for their roles in the scheme.
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