Nigerian national Samuel Ugberaese has been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face federal charges over an alleged cross-border romance scam and money laundering conspiracy targeting victims in the U.S. and elsewhere.
The FBI arrested Ugberaese after he was transferred from Nigeria, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned the indictment against him on January 22, 2021.
According to the indictment, Ugberaese and his co-conspirators used romance scheme techniques, including false stories and promises, to exploit and defraud victims into transferring money on their behalf.
“The indictment further alleges that Ugberaese conspired with a co-defendant Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, a naturalized U.S. citizen, to conduct financial transactions through his bank account network, including accounts registered to purported export companies, to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the criminal proceeds,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Ugberaese is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
Following his extradition, U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian S. Myers ordered Ugberaese detained pending trial.
The arrest and extradition were made possible through international collaboration. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Law Enforcement Attaché Office in Abuja, the U.S. Department of State, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Office of Nigeria, the Nigeria Police Force INTERPOL, and the South African Police Service all provided assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam F. Hulbig is handling the case for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
U.S. authorities stressed that the charges are still allegations and that the defendant remains innocent until proven guilty in court.
