A Nigerian, Lotenna Umeadi, is facing up to 20 years in prison in the United States after pleading guilty to wire fraud.
Umeadi was apprehended in Germany last year and extradited to the US, where he confessed to using a business email compromise to defraud a Sri Lankan organisation of $158,400.
Last week, the US Attorney’s Office disclosed that the Nigerian admitted to soliciting and purchasing a webpage from a computer hacker that allowed him to illegally access people’s email passwords.
“Umeadi used those passwords to gain access to email accounts belonging to employees of a produce exporter in Sri Lanka,” the statement read.
The 35-year-old further sent phony emails to dupe his victims into redirecting payments to his bank accounts in the United Kingdom.
“As a result of the fraudulent emails from Umeadi, on two occasions in 2016, a produce importer in Plattsburgh, New York, wired money, totaling $158,400, to those bank accounts in the United Kingdom,” the US Attorney’s Office said.
Umeadi was arrested by German authorities on September 1, 2024, when he arrived in Germany from Nigeria and was extradited to the US.
His sentencing has been slated for July 21, 2025, where he faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years.
He also faces deportation from the US after service of his imprisonment term.
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