The United States has detained a 29-year-old Nigerian man for scamming New York of $30 million.
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on September 9, 2022 that Chidozie Collins Obasi had been indicted on one count of conspiracy to conduct mail and wire fraud.
Collins is also charged with six counts of mail fraud and sixteen charges of wire fraud, according to the statement, which stem from a complex, continually developing fraud operation that was initially directed at Americans through a spam email campaign offering phony “work from home opportunities.”
The accused is alleged to have “switched to targeting U.S. hospitals and medical systems by offering nonexistent ventilators for sale beginning in March 2020” during the COVID-19 epidemic. In the end, he focused his efforts once more on applying for and obtaining Economic Injury Disaster Loans (also known as “EID Loans”) in June 2020 using stolen identity information from American citizens.
In this endeavor, Collins is not acting alone. He has accomplices in Canada, the statement claims, but he has been directing the fraudulent activity from Nigeria.
” with the help of co-conspirators in Canada and elsewhere. The defendant and his co-conspirators are alleged to have obtained more than $ 31,000,000 through this multi-faceted fraud scheme, with the overwhelming majority of that money – more than $ 30 million. – coming from the State of New York for the intended purchase of ventilators. “
The young man is a fugitive, and the FBI has started looking for him, according to the statement.
Chidozie Collins Obasi of Nigeria is wanted for defrauding N.Y. State out of more than $30 million. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts should contact their local FBI office or go to https://t.co/M0Wg0RiRKf—anonymous tips OK. More info via @USAO_EDPA: https://t.co/RRow3U6hWD pic.twitter.com/OnG9p5Os7N
— FBI Philadelphia (@FBIPhiladelphia) September 9, 2022
Obasi may receive a maximum penalty of 621 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $5,750,000 if he is found out and found guilty.
According to the statement, Obasi will also be obliged to pay back in full the more than $ 31,000,000 that he fraudulently obtained.
