Invictus Obi has been released from U.S. Prison and is set for deportation to Nigeria.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Nigerian businessman and former Forbes-listed entrepreneur, Obinwanne Okeke, widely known as Invictus Obi, has been released from a United States federal prison after serving part of his sentence for a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Records from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons confirm that Okeke was released on Wednesday, with deportation arrangements currently underway in line with the terms of his guilty plea.
Okeke, 38, was arrested in August 2019 by FBI agents at Dulles International Airport, Virginia, while attempting to board a flight to Nigeria. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud.
In February 2021, a U.S. federal court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for masterminding a sophisticated business email compromise (BEC) scheme that defrauded several American companies of about $11 million between 2015 and 2019.
His early release is believed to be linked to the First Step Act, a U.S. prison reform law signed by former President Donald Trump, which allows sentence reductions based on good conduct and participation in rehabilitation programmes.
Court filings revealed that Okeke gained unauthorised access to corporate email systems, including that of Unatrac Holding Limited, a company involved in exporting Caterpillar industrial equipment. By impersonating company executives and intercepting email communications, he diverted legitimate payments into bank accounts under his control.
“Through subterfuge and impersonation, Obinwanne Okeke carried out a multi-year global business email and computer hacking scheme that resulted in staggering losses of about $11 million,” Raj Parekh, then Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a 2021 statement.
In Nigeria, a Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier ordered the temporary forfeiture of over ₦280 million traced to Okeke’s local bank accounts, believed to be proceeds of the fraud.
Before his arrest, Okeke enjoyed widespread acclaim and was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Africa list in 2016, where he was portrayed as one of Africa’s rising entrepreneurial stars. He was presented as the founder of Invictus Group, with reported investments across construction, agriculture, oil and gas, telecommunications, and real estate.
That image, however, later collapsed following his conviction in the United States.
With his release from U.S. custody and impending return to Nigeria, Okeke’s case is expected to reignite national debate over elite fraud, accountability, and the glamorisation of sudden wealth without due scrutiny.
