Nigerian jailed five years for $1.4m fraud

File photo: Court gavel

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A Nigerian man, Nosa Edokpaigbe, has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for defrauding hundreds of American people of nearly $1.4m through an Internet scam in the United States.

Edokpaigbe was also ordered to pay $1,408,897.16 in restitution in a judgment issued by US District Judge, Regina Rodriguez.

The Nigerian would also forfeit $681,694 after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and agreeing to the entry of a stipulated judicial removal order.

This was disclosed in a press statement by the Department of Justice, issued through the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, on Thursday.

According to the plea agreement, between July 2020 and May 2021, Edokpaigbe prepared and submitted hundreds of fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Programme applications on behalf of fictitious business entities using personal identifying information belonging to other real individuals.

He fabricated documents and used AI-generated images to defraud many people in the US until he was arrested in residence in 2023.

“While others were struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nosa Edokpaigbe saw the national emergency as an opportunity to fleece American taxpayers out of almost $1.4m.

His shameless exploitation of relief programmes, which were supposed to be a lifeline for people in need, has earned him several years in federal prison and a one-way trip back to Nigeria,” the statement quoted the US Attorney, Peter McNeilly.

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