Nosakhare Nobore and Solomon Aluko, two Nigerian nationals involved in international fraud have been apprehended in the United States.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested the duo for designing the ‘Fraud Bible’ to pilfer $50 million from U.S. citizens through a nationwide COVID-19 benefits scheme.
On Thursday, a four-count criminal indictment was unsealed by Matthew Podolsky, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The indictment charges Nosakhare Nobore and Solomon Aluko, both based in New Jersey, as members of a criminal ring involved in a nationwide plot that fraudulently obtained checks and laundered the proceeds across multiple U.S. cities.
“We allege that the defendants stole tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief and other checks, and even used a ‘Fraud Bible’ containing instructions for committing fraud,” said Mr. Podolsky.
“This office will not tolerate the exploitation of programs designed to support the public in times of crisis, and we and our law enforcement partners will hold those responsible fully accountable.”
According to the indictment, the duo, along with four other individuals—Jorge Gonzalez, Leonard Ujkic, Nicholas Pappas, and Shan Anand—are charged with conspiring to steal $80 million from the U.S. government, financial institutions, and individuals through a scheme that lasted four years, from 2021 to 2025.
As part of their operations, the suspects also created a Telegram group called ‘2021 Fraud Bible,’ where they openly discussed their illegal activities and provided others with a ‘template’ to defraud Americans, the indictment alleges.
Officials stated that the defendants specialized in stealing their victims’ identities and used this information to open fraudulent bank accounts. One of the suspects, who worked as a teller at a major American bank, played a crucial role in facilitating these activities.
The bank teller enabled the group to deposit cheques from the U.S. Treasury that were either counterfeit or fraudulently obtained through false IRS filings connected to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and Qualified Sick Leave Wages (QSLW) credit programs.
“Many of the checks were government funds intended for COVID-19 relief that the defendants stole before depositing them into bank accounts created using fake businesses or stolen identities,” U.S. officials revealed.
Despite their attempts to steal up to $80 million, Nobore, Aluko, and their associates only managed to successfully cash out $50 million over the course of four years. Once deposited, the defendants withdrew the fraudulent funds in cash or transferred them to other bank accounts they controlled.
The charges carry severe penalties, with each defendant facing up to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering, 10 years for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft.
