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A US-based Nigerian man, Leslie Mba, has been sentenced to 19 years in a United States federal prison for participating in a $4 million romance scam and business email compromise scheme. Mba will also be deported from the U.S after completing his prison terms.
US District Judge David Hittner ordered Mba to serve 228 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to make false statements in immigration documents.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced the conviction in a statement on Monday.
According to prosecutors, Mba and four other Nigerian men operated a transnational fraud scheme that targeted individuals and businesses. They were also involved in romance scams and hacked business email accounts to divert legitimate payments between April 2018 and December 2023.
“Victims believed they were sending money to legitimate businesses, but Mba and others instead funnelled the funds to accounts they controlled,” prosecutors said.
Mba had been on a marriage spree by getting married to multiple women in a short time to secure U.S. permanent residency after his initial application was denied.
U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei expressed his displeasure towards the crimes, especially the romance scams, because they preyed on vulnerable victims. According to him, “Romance scams are among the lowest and most despicable forms of fraud because they prey upon the lonely and vulnerable, and disproportionately victimise senior citizens.” He added that Mba had committed those crimes on American soil and tried to deceive the immigration officers.
FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge, Jason Hudson, also condemned the crimes, saying the romance scams are weapons that men use to manipulate and financially devastate their victims.
“Romance scams cruelly manipulate trust, exploit the fear of loneliness and leave victims both financially devastated and emotionally shattered,” Hudson said, adding that the agency would continue to pursue fraudsters.
Romance scams have been on the rise recently, with many cases reported across different countries. A similar case is that of 31-year-old Ghanaian socialite, Frederick Kumi, popularly known as Abu Trica, who was arrested in December over his alleged role in an online romance scam valued at more than $8 million.
