A Nigerian man has been sentenced to prison in the United States for defrauding attorneys in a sophisticated legal scam. Discover the details of this case and its implications.
After a five-day jury trial in September 2023, Omoyoma Christopher Okoro, a 50-year-old Nigerian, was found guilty of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud affecting a financial institution, and bank fraud.
The prosecution stated that Okoro, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Nigeria, was involved in a fraudulent scheme targeting U.S. attorneys from 2006 to 2010.
The sentencing, which took place on September 19, 2024, also included a restitution order of $22,565,929.18. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania made the statement.
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Under the pretense of requiring legal advice, Okoro and his accomplices contacted U.S. attorneys as part of the “attorney collection scheme.”
They would eventually submit counterfeit checks that they claimed were issued by U.S. institutions to be deposited into the escrow accounts of the attorneys, claiming to be owed money from commercial transactions or settlements.
Before recognizing the checks were phony, the attorneys were told to wire some of the money to overseas bank accounts, usually in East Asia.
The trial evidence showed that Okoro was in contact with several conspirators and helped to carry out the fraudulent transactions, which caused the banks and attorneys who were harmed to suffer large financial losses. Over $23 million is thought to have been obtained through this scheme, with over $80 million worth of fraud attempts.
This prosecution is part of a bigger investigation into the attorney collecting scam, which has seen additional defendants charged, including persons from Canada and Nigeria. The investigation was handled by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the prosecution lead by Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
The sentence imposed on Okoro highlights the continuous efforts to thwart complex fraud schemes that prey on American legal professionals.
