Nigerian National Pleads Guilty in $5.7 Million International Fraud Scheme Targeting Victims Across 20 Countries

A 57-year-old Nigerian national, Uche Victor Diuno, has pleaded guilty for his involvement in a fraud conspiracy spanning over 20 countries. U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced the plea, revealing that Diuno played a key role in a scam where fraudsters abroad enticed victims with false promises of substantial investment funding and inheritances.

Diuno and his accomplices, posing as executives and employees of prominent U.S. banks, deceived victims into making payments to secure fake investment and money transfer agreements. Subsequently, other members of the conspiracy laundered these payments through U.S. bank accounts, channeling them back to the leaders of the scheme in Nigeria.

The guilty plea included Diuno’s acknowledgment of using multiple aliases to make the scam appear authentic. He also confessed to his involvement in the laundering of victim funds. Acting on instructions from the scheme’s leader, Diuno directed a co-conspirator to disburse victim funds, involving transfers to various bank accounts through currency exchangers and the purchase of vehicles shipped to scammers in Nigeria.

Between October 2014 and September 2018, Diuno and his co-conspirators caused losses totaling nearly $5.7 million. U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett accepted the guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for May 9. Diuno could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each charge and a maximum fine of either $500,000 or double the value of the victims’ losses. Diuno will remain in custody until sentencing. The FBI and the Department of State – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.