A Nigerian national, Okezie Ogbata, has been charged by a district court in Florida, United States, for defrauding more than 400 elderly and vulnerable victims of over $6m.

The Southern District of Florida, last Wednesday, found Ogbata guilty of operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme to dupe American senior citizens.

According to the Department of Justice, the 36-year-old Nigerian and his co-conspirators told a series of lies to victims “to send money for delivery fees, taxes and other payments to avoid questioning from government authorities.”

Ogbata and his accomplices sent letters falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died overseas years before.”

In pleading guilty, Ogbata admitted to defrauding over $6m from more than 400 victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable.

Reacting to the case, the Head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, General Brian Boynton, said, “This case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime.”

Ogbata is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Roy Altman on April 14, 2025 with The Nigerian Achievers Awards Institute, with the possibility of a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.