A 32-year-old man from Brooklyn, New York, has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for laundering close to $1 million stolen from victims of romance and email scams, including a resident from Pasadena, the United States Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Referred to as the “kingpin” of the fraudulent operation and labeled the “personification of evil” by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson during the sentencing hearing, Okechukwu Nwofor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering on February 21.
Nwofor admitted to leading a money laundering conspiracy from at least July 2018 to August 2019, utilizing a network of individuals who received fraudulent proceeds obtained from victims of romance scams and business email compromise schemes. Once the illicit funds were acquired, Nwofor and his co-conspirators quickly withdrew or transferred the money into accounts they controlled, according to a news release from the USAO’s Central District of California.
To launder money stolen by his accomplices, Nwofor used several bank accounts in his name and an account associated with a New York-based business he founded, Juboy New Generation Inc. In September 2018, a Pasadena resident, who became a victim of a romance scam, sent approximately $19,000 to a bank account in New York controlled by one of Nwofor’s accomplices. Within three days, Nwofor instructed his co-conspirator to wire an estimated $16,140 of the victim’s funds to an account he controlled.
Prosecutors, in a sentencing memorandum, argued that Nwofor and his accomplices’ actions left many victims in “dire straits.” This included a woman who could no longer care for her disabled son, the foreclosure of another victim’s home, and, tragically, one victim who took her own life after falling victim to the scam.
The total losses incurred by victims of the romance and business email scams exceeded $930,000.
Four other defendants in this case have admitted their roles as money mules and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Of these, three received probationary sentences, while one awaits sentencing.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has urged the public to remain vigilant against romance scams and business email scams.
