Nigerian National Sentenced to 8 Years Over Inheritance Fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Feb.6 the conviction of a Nigerian national for his involvement in a years-long fraud scheme targeting elderly and vulnerable individuals. Tochukwu Albert Nnebocha was sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime.

Nnebocha, 44, of Nigeria, and his accomplices conducted a “lucrative transnational inheritance fraud scheme” that took advantage of vulnerable individuals in the US, according to court documents gathered by the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs.

Nnebocha and his associates sent thousands of personalized letters to elderly people, impersonating bank representatives from Spain and claiming that recipients were “entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left by a deceased family member.”

Co-conspirators would then tell victims that they were required to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and other payments associated with the inheritance.

The scheme, which ran for more than seven years, defrauded more than $6 million from over 400 U.S. victims.

In April 2025, Nnebocha was apprehended by Polish law enforcement and extradited to the U.S. in September 2025.

“In November 2025, Nnebocha pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. At sentencing, Nnebocha was sentenced to 97 months in prison, 3 years supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $6.8 million in restitution to the victims of his scheme,” according to a press release from the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations, with support from the FBI Legal Attaché in Poland, INTERPOL, Polish authorities, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs. This case marks the second conviction related to the international fraud scheme. Eight accomplices from Nigeria, Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom have been apprehended and sentenced in connection to the operation.

Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Joshua D. Rothman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.