Nigerian programmer and self-styled ‘tech queen’ Sapphire Egemasi is facing up to 20 years in prison after being arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for her alleged role in a sophisticated multimillion-dollar internet fraud and money laundering scheme targeting U.S. government agencies.
Egemasi, who operated a Devpost account and was known for flaunting a lavish tech-savvy lifestyle on social media, was apprehended around April 10, 2025, in the Bronx, New York.
She was arrested alongside her co-conspirators, including Ghanaian national Samuel Kwadwo Osei, who is believed to have led the cybercrime syndicate.
Their arrest followed a federal grand jury indictment last year on multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering. The alleged crimes were said to have occurred between September 2021 and February 2023.
According to Peoples Gazette, Egemasi and her co-defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud the city of Kentucky of millions of dollars. Investigators said Egemasi’s role in the syndicate was to design and register spoof websites mimicking U.S. government portals in order to steal login credentials.
Officials noted that prior to her arrest, Egemasi had been residing in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is believed she became connected with the Ghanaian members of the fraud ring while living in Ghana years earlier and eventually joined the syndicate as its primary tech expert.
Authorities said Egemasi also facilitated the redirection of stolen funds to accounts controlled by the group using a network of wire transfers. Text messages retrieved during the investigation confirmed that in August 2022, the syndicate rerouted $965,000 stolen from the city of Kentucky to a PNC Bank account. During the same period, another $330,000 was reportedly diverted to a Bank of America account.
To mask the origins of her wealth, Egemasi allegedly claimed to have interned with major global corporations such as British Petroleum (BP), H&M, and Zara. However, investigators believe these were false claims used to build a façade of legitimacy.
Known for her vibrant social media presence, Egemasi had branded herself as a tech entrepreneur and digital nomad. Her LinkedIn profile attracted thousands of followers, who admired her supposed rise in the tech world. She regularly posted photos of her luxurious international travels to destinations like Greece and Portugal—trips now suspected to have been funded with proceeds of fraud.
She and her co-accused are currently in custody awaiting trial in Lexington, Kentucky. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, hefty financial penalties, and eventual deportation to their home countries upon serving their sentences.
