A Nigerian national, Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison in the United States and ordered to pay $6.8 million in restitution after being convicted for his role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that targeted elderly Americans.
Okay News reports that the U.S. Department of Justice announced the sentencing on February 6, 2026, noting that Nnebocha and his co‑conspirators defrauded more than 400 victims of over $6 million through personalised letters claiming recipients were entitled to multimillion‑dollar inheritances. Victims were pressured to pay fees such as taxes and delivery charges before receiving the supposed funds.
Court documents revealed that the fraud ran for more than seven years, with hundreds of thousands of letters sent to victims across the United States. Nnebocha was arrested in Poland in April 2025, extradited to the U.S. in September, and pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. He was sentenced to 97 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Authorities said the case was part of a broader crackdown on international fraud networks. Eight co‑conspirators from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and Nigeria have already been convicted, while another Nigerian, Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, was sentenced in July 2025 for his role in the same scheme.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations, with support from the Office of International Affairs and Polish law enforcement. Officials said the case highlights the growing focus of American authorities on dismantling global fraud operations targeting vulnerable citizens.
This sentencing follows similar convictions of Nigerian nationals in the U.S. In June 2025, a federal court in Texas sentenced five Nigerians to nearly 160 years combined for a $17 million fraud and money laundering conspiracy, underscoring the scale of international enforcement efforts.
