A Nigerian national was sentenced Friday to eight years and a month in prison for his role in a multi-year, transnational inheritance scam that defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans, according to authorities.
Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, 36, admitted he was part of a fraud ring that sent personalized letters falsely claiming recipients were heirs to multimillion-dollar estates in Spain. The letters, disguised as official bank notices, lured victims into paying supposed fees, taxes, and bribes to secure their “inheritance.”
In reality, there was no inheritance—only a web of lies. Victims were pressured to send payments through intermediaries, often other scam victims, who unknowingly assisted in laundering the funds.
Ogbata pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme that defrauded over 400 victims out of more than $6 million. Most of the victims were elderly or otherwise vulnerable, and none received a dime.
U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security investigated the case.