A Nigerian, Emmanuel Ehkator who was investigated by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for criminal conspiracy to
commit mail and wire fraud in the United States of America has been
sentenced by District Court Judge, Middle District of Pennsylvania,
Yvette Kane, to a three-year term. He is also ordered to pay $11,092,028
in restitution to his victims.
The conviction of Ehkator, 42, who was arrested in Nigeria by the
EFCC in August 2010 and extradited to the United States in August 2011,
followed his plea of guilt.
Justice Kane also ordered Ehkator's forfeiture of properties in Canada and the contents of several bank accounts in Nigeria.
While the trial lasted, the prosecutor informed the court that
Ehkator was part of an attorney collection scam. Their modus operandi,
he said was for the convict to contact U.S. and Canadian law firms by
e-mail claiming to be individuals or businesses outside North America
who were owed money by entities in the United States and asked for legal
representation to collect the money.
The prosecutor further told the court that, "often, the prospective
"clients" said the money owed came from a real estate transaction, tort
claim, or divorce settlement. Once the law firm agreed to represent the
out-of-country client, the law firm would be contacted by the U.S.
entity purportedly owing money with an offer to pay the client by
cheque. The client would instruct the law firm to deposit the cheque in
the law firm's trust account, retain the law firm's fee, and wire the
remaining funds to accounts in Asia".
The cheque that was then mailed to the law firm would be a
counterfeit cheque, a fact that would be discovered only after funds
from the law firm's trust account had been wired to the Asian bank, the
prosecution said.
The counterfeit cheques, which appeared to be drawn on legitimate
accounts from well-established financial institutions, often included a
telephone number for the financial institution. Lawyers attempting to
determine the validity of the cheque would call the number only to reach
another conspirator who would falsely verify the cheque. The court was
also told that Ehkator's involvement in the scheme makes him responsible
for losses of more than $7 million and up to $20 million.
Ehkator's co-defendant, Yvette Mathurin, has also been charged for
conspiracy and is awaiting extradition from Canada while another
co-conspirator, Kingsley Osagie, was arrested as he arrived in the
Atlanta area from Nigeria and is currently awaiting trial in the Middle
District of Pennsylvania. Other co-conspirators are pending extradition
from several foreign countries as investigation continues against other
members of the large, multi-national conspiracy.
Aside from the EFCC, other agencies that investigated the crime were
the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the United States Secret Service, the Toronto Police
Services and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It was prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy H. Fawcett.
Wilson Uwujaren
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity
11th September, 2013
