The Justice Department secured a lengthy prison sentence for a Nigerian national convicted in a cross-border inheritance fraud that targeted elderly and vulnerable Americans, resulting in millions stolen and international cooperation to bring the defendant to trial.
A federal court has sentenced Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha, a 44-year-old Nigerian national, to more than eight years behind bars for his role in a sprawling international inheritance fraud scheme that preyed on older Americans. The sentence comes after a multiyear investigation into a pattern of deliberate deception and financial exploitation. Victims were promised large inheritances that never existed and were coaxed into sending money for bogus fees.
Court filings describe how Nnebocha and his co-conspirators operated a profitable transnational business of scams, using tailored letters to win victims’ trust and spur payments. Over more than seven years the group sent hundreds of thousands of personalized letters to elderly recipients across the United States, posing as representatives of a bank in Spain and claiming the recipient was entitled to a multimillion-dollar inheritance. The scheme required victims to pay so-called delivery fees, taxes, and other invented charges before they could supposedly receive the fabricated inheritances.
The financial damage was severe: the conspirators defrauded over 400 U.S. victims and collected more than $6 million through their correspondence and deceptive demands. At sentencing, the court ordered Nnebocha to pay more than $6.8 million in restitution to those victims, reflecting the scale of loss and the court’s effort to hold him financially accountable. The sentence also included 97 months of incarceration and 3 years of supervised release as part of the federal judgment.
The case unfolded across borders and agencies: Nnebocha was arrested in April 2025 in Poland, extradited to the United States in September 2025, and pleaded guilty in November 2025 to conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors emphasized the long-running nature of the conspiracy and the careful planning behind the outreach to vulnerable targets. This prosecution is the second indicted action tied to the same international fraud scheme, following convictions of eight co-conspirators from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and Nigeria.
Investigators and prosecutors named several federal partners and officials who announced and handled the case. “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 led the investigative work on this matter, while Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Joshua D. Rothman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with law enforcement in Poland to secure Nnebocha’s arrest and extradition, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Poland, INTERPOL, and Polish authorities.
The scope and duration of the scheme exposed the methods fraudsters use to target seniors and the importance of cross-border law enforcement cooperation in dismantling those operations. Financial exploitation of older adults often relies on patience, repetition, and elaborate storylines, all of which appeared here as conspirators tailored pitches for specific victims and pressured them for upfront payments. Prosecutors and investigators emphasized the coordinated international response that made arrest and extradition possible in this instance.
The Justice Department also highlighted resources for older Americans who may have been targeted by scams like this one, providing a dedicated contact for help and reporting. The National Elder Fraud Hotline is available at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311) and is managed by the Office for Victims of Crime; the line is staffed seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time and offers services in English, Spanish and other languages. Case managers can help callers identify reporting options, connect with agencies, and provide referrals that may assist in responding to suspected financial fraud.
This prosecution underscores the persistent threat posed by transnational fraud networks that exploit distance and complexity to target Americans, particularly seniors. By combining investigative pressure, extradition cooperation, and federal prosecution, authorities delivered a significant penalty and a restitution order intended to address the losses suffered by hundreds of victims. Ongoing work by law enforcement and victim-support offices aims to disrupt similar schemes and provide practical channels for victims to report and seek help.
