US-based Nigerian, lawful permanent resident, bags 75 months in jail, fined $342,000 for catfishing scam

Edwin Okoronkwo, 36-year-old Nigerian national based in US, was sentenced on January 29, 2025, by a federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Susan T. Lehr has announced.

United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Okoronkwo to 75 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.

After his release from prison, Okoronkwo will be placed on a 3-year term of supervised release and will be deported by immigration authorities.

Okoronkwo was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $342,535.00 to seven victims as a result of his crimes.

Edwin Okoronkwo, a citizen of Nigeria and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, and his spouse, Julie Okoronkwo, residing in Nebraska, used “catfishing” schemes to obtain money from victims via the Internet.

In doing so, they convinced victims to send money using false online social media personas.

In some instances, they claimed to be high-ranking members of the United States military on overseas missions.

Through the “catfishing” schemes, victims from all over the country were tricked into sending money through the United States Postal Service (USPS) and other commercial carriers such as FedEx and UPS.

The Okoronkwos used victims’ personal identifying information (PII) obtained from identity theft victims to open bank accounts and other online financial services accounts, including peer-to-peer digital payments platforms (e.g., PayPal and Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App).

They directed the victims of the “catfishing” schemes to send money from the victims’ personal peer-to-peer digital payment platform accounts to the peer-to-peer digital payment platforms opened by the Okoronkwos using the names and PII of the identity theft victims.

From those false accounts, the Okoronkwos would then transfer money into their personal bank accounts, to bank accounts opened using the names of identity theft victims but controlled by the Okoronkwos, or to cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

Some of the money would also then be passed along to recipients overseas to Nigeria via international wire transfers through remittance services.

Julie Okoronkwo contacted “catfishing” victims over the phone to further convince them of the legitimacy of their need for cash and obtained from her workplace – a hospital – victims’ means of identification, including their social security numbers and Nebraska driver’s license information.

The means of identification were used by the Okoronkwos in furtherance of their “catfishing’ schemes.

Julie Okoronkwo was previously sentenced to imprisonment for 25 months by U.S. District Judge Buescher on January 10, 2025.

Judge Buescher said at Edwin Okoronkwo’s sentencing hearing that the crimes were “truly a tragedy for the victims.”

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.