Nigerian Man Sentenced to Over 8 Years for International Inheritance Fraud Targeting Elderly Americans

A Nigerian National was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for participating in a years-long conspiracy to defraud elderly and vulnerable Americans through an inheritance fraud scheme.

Court documents say that Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha, 44, of Nigeria, and his co-conspirators operated a lucrative transnational inheritance fraud scheme that exploited vulnerable people in the United States.

Over the course of more than seven years, Nnebocha and his co-conspirators sent hundreds of thousands of personalized letters to elderly individuals in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left by a deceased family member. The conspirators then told the victims that, before they could receive their purported inheritance, they were required to send money for purported delivery fees, taxes, and payments regarding the inheritance. In total, the defendant and his co-conspirators defrauded over 400 U.S. victims of more than $6 million.

In April 2025, Nnebocha was arrested by authorities in Poland and extradited to the United States in September 2025. In November 2025, Nnebocha pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. At sentencing, Nnebocha was sentenced to 97 months in prison, 3 years supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $6.8 million in restitution to the victims of his scheme. This is the second indicted case related to this international fraud scheme. Eight co-conspirators from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and Nigeria have previously been convicted and sentenced in connection with this scheme.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s (USPIS) Miami Division; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Ray Rede of the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) in Arizona made the announcement.

USPIS and HSI investigated the case.

Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Joshua D. Rothman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) worked with law enforcement partners in Poland to secure the arrest and extradition of Nnebocha. OIA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the FBI’s Legal Attache in Poland, INTERPOL, and Polish Authorities, all provided critical assistance.

If you or someone you know is aged 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim, and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is staffed seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

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