Two Nigerian international fraudsters, who devised a ‘Fraud Bible’ to orchestrate large-scale scams targeting the American government and its citizens, have been apprehended in the United States.
The pair were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for concocting the ‘Fraud Bible’ to embezzle $50 million from U.S. citizens through a nationwide COVID-19 benefits scheme.
A four-count criminal indictment unsealed on Thursday by Matthew Podolsky, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, charges Nosakhare Nobore and Solomon Aluko, both residing in New Jersey, with being part of a ring involved in a widespread scheme that illicitly secured checks and laundered the proceeds across several cities in the U.S.
“We allege that the defendants pilfered tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds and other checks, employing a ‘Fraud Bible’ replete with instructions for executing fraud,” stated Mr Podolsky. “This Office will not tolerate the exploitation of programmes designed to support the public in times of crisis, and we, along with our law enforcement partners, will ensure those responsible are held fully accountable.”
The indictment, reviewed by Peoples Gazette, alleges that the duo, along with four other individuals—Jorge Gonzalez, Leonard Ujkic, Nicholas Pappas, and Shan Anand—all charged in the case, conspired to steal $80 million from the U.S. government, banks, and individuals in a scheme that spanned four years, from 2021 to 2025.
To further their fraudulent efforts, the suspects created a Telegram group called ‘2021 Fraud Bible,’ where they openly discussed their illicit activities and provided others with a ‘template’ for defrauding Americans, according to the indictment.
Officials reported that the defendants specialised in stealing the identities of their victims, then using this stolen information to open fraudulent bank accounts, aided by one of the suspects who was a teller at a major American bank. This insider assistance enabled the group to tailor each account to facilitate their deceitful activities.
The bank teller provided the defendants with a means to deposit checks from the U.S. Treasury that had been counterfeited or fraudulently obtained through false and illegitimate filings with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in relation to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and Qualified Sick Leave Wages (QSLW) credit.
“Many of the checks represented funds allocated by the government for COVID-19 relief, which the defendants misappropriated before depositing them into bank accounts established using fictitious businesses or stolen or fabricated identities,” U.S. officials explained.
Messrs Nobore and Aluko, along with their accomplices, aimed to steal as much as $80 million but managed to cash out $50 million over the four-year period. Once the cheques were deposited, the accused withdrew the fraudulently obtained funds in cash or transferred them to other accounts under their control.
Each faces a potential sentence of 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering, 10 years for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, and a mandatory minimum of two years for aggravated identity theft.
