A Nigerian national, Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha, has been extradited from Poland to the United States to face federal charges for allegedly orchestrating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded elderly Americans of their savings.
Nnebocha, 43, made his initial court appearance on September 29, 2025, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett in the Southern District of Florida.
He was arrested in April 2025 by Polish authorities following an indictment filed in Florida and has remained in custody since.
According to court documents, Nnebocha and his co-conspirators allegedly sent deceptive letters to seniors across the U.S., falsely claiming they were heirs to multimillion-dollar estates in Spain.
Victims were instructed to pay fees and taxes to claim their inheritance, funneling money through a network of manipulated former victims acting as intermediaries. No inheritance was ever delivered.
Nnebocha faces charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, along with mail fraud and wire fraud, carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Two co-defendants—Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata (extradited from Portugal) and Ehis Lawrence Akhimie (extradited from the UK)—have already pleaded guilty and received 97-month prison sentences from Judge Roy K. Altman.
The case is being prosecuted by Phil Toomajian and Josh Rothman of the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, with support from USPIS, HSI, INTERPOL, and Polish authorities.
The DOJ emphasized its broader commitment to protecting seniors from scams including romance fraud, lottery fraud, tech support fraud, and grandparent scams, which exploit trust and vulnerability to extract money under false pretenses.
