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Three Female US Citizens, One Nigerian Male Sentenced Over Advanced Fee Fraud
A United States’ Court, for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, has found guilty and sentenced four people over allegations involving advanced fee fraud to tune of $2.6 million.
The four convicts included three female Americans and one male Nigerian.
This was contained in a statement issued by Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, District of Guam, Carmela Rapadas, under the headline, “Four Defendants Sentenced for their Roles in Advance Fee Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme”.
The four convicts, who bagged different sentences include, Sally Cruz Roberto, (F), (56), from Santa Rita, Guam, sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment; Monique Jones, (F), (49), from Dallas, Texas, sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment; Mekayda D. Jones, (F), (24), from Dallas, Texas, sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment; and Okechukwu F. Iwuji, (M) (38), a Nigerian citizen, who previously resided in Orlando, Florida, sentenced to 45 months’ imprisonment.
All the four had additional terms to their sentencing including refund of some of the monies deemed to have been fraudulently obtained.
Rapadas stated, “Defendants and members of the conspiracy fraudulently obtained approximately $2,600,000 by inducing Guam-based victim-investors to first pay bogus fees and other expenses purportedly associated with a multimillion-dollar inheritance before they could collect any promised funds.”
The full text of the statement reads, “SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that the following defendants were sentenced in the United States District Court of Guam for their involvement in an advance fee and money laundering scheme.
“Defendants and members of the conspiracy fraudulently obtained approximately $2,600,000 by inducing Guam-based victim-investors to first pay bogus fees and other expenses purportedly associated with a multimillion-dollar inheritance before they could collect any promised funds.
“U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour sentenced the following defendants for their respective roles in this criminal scheme:
“Sally Cruz Roberto, age 56, from Santa Rita, Guam, was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment; three years supervised release; ordered to pay $1,030,990 in restitution, a $3,900 mandatory assessment fee, and a $1,030,990 forfeiture money judgment.
“She was sentenced on August 15, 2023, after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 38 counts of wire fraud.
“As part of the conspiracy, Roberto obtained $1,030,990 of victim funds and used her bank account to wire those funds to stateside bank accounts of other co-conspirators.
“Monique Jones, age 49, from Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment; three years supervised release; ordered to pay $578,130 in restitution, a $2,700 mandatory assessment fee, and a $1,111,280 forfeiture money judgment.
“She was sentenced on August 15, 2023, after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 25 counts of wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
“Mekayda D. Jones, age 24, from Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment; three years supervised release; ordered to pay $387,160 in restitution, a $1,600.00 mandatory assessment fee, and a $801,210 forfeiture money judgment.
“She was sentenced on August 15, 2023, after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
“As part of the conspiracies, Monique and Mekayda Jones perpetuated the fraud by maintaining bank accounts in the names of shell corporations to receive, withdraw, and transfer victim funds to other co-conspirators in the United States and Nigeria.
“In exchange, they kept at least 10 percent of victim funds that flowed into bank accounts they controlled.
“Okechukwu F. Iwuji, age 38, a Nigerian citizen, who previously resided in Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to 45 months’ imprisonment; three years supervised release; ordered to pay $475,710 in restitution, a $100 mandatory assessment fee, and a $475,710 forfeiture money judgment.
“He was sentenced on August 17, 2023, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“As part of the conspiracy, Iwuji obtained at least $475,710 of victim funds from Roberto and other co-conspirators and transferred some funds to third party-Nigerian bank accounts.
“This far-ranging conspiracy preyed on 60 victims, nearly all of whom live in Guam,” stated United States Attorney Anderson.
“These scams are difficult to investigate and prosecute due to the interstate and transnational nature of the criminal activity.
“Our success in this matter is the result of a team effort across multiple jurisdictions, with outstanding leadership by prosecutor David.
“We will continue to pursue the collection of restitution for those harmed by the defendants’ conduct. The public must remain vigilant against this type of fraud.”
“This sentence should make the public aware that these types of advanced fee, associated with inheritance scams, will be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill.
“If it is too good to be true, it probably is. If you feel you have been scammed, please contact the FBI at (800) 225-5324 (CALL-FBI) or report it to tips.fbi.gov.”
“The investigation was led by the FBI Guam Resident Agency with the assistance of FBI field offices in Dallas and Atlanta; Homeland Security Investigations in Orlando, Florida; the U.S. Secret Service in Dallas; and the Guam Police Department.
This case was prosecuted by Marivic P. David, First Assistant United States Attorney and Criminal Chief in the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.”
The President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu has admonished state actors against resorting to brutal force in the bid to muscle out separatist agitators.
In the aftermath of Mazi Simon Ekpa, the Finland based Biafran nationalist agitator being caught in legal web and the Nigerian government moving swiftly to seek his repatriation, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned that ‘We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.’
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The political economist, while expressing his hope in Nigeria, made it clear that “hope is not a strategy”.
He bared his mind in a series of posts on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X on Friday.
Moghalu wrote, “Despite sustained contemporary difficulties, I am hopeful about Nigeria. But hope is not a strategy. We need to improve state capacity for effective governance.
“We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.
“We must learn to be honest with ourselves and address the root causes of our problems. Why ignore them, when the problem is actually quite solvable? The problem with continuing with this approach is that when the danger crystallizes, those who thought they were benefiting from
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
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