Nigerian IT Engineer, Onyegbula, Indicted For $290k Fraud In US

A United States grand jury in Seattle has indicted a Nigerian,
Chukwuemeka Onyegbula, for alleged impersonation and multiple wire
fraud.

Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman announced this on Thursday in
an official statement from the US Ministry of Justice, stating that
the suspect is being detained in Nigeria.

An investigation has revealed that Onyegbula works as an IT
engineer with Pan Ocean Oil Corporation Nigeria Limited.

The indictment and criminal complaint on June 6, 2021 revealed
that Onyegbula under the alias ‘Phillip Carter’ had filed for
fraudulent unemployment insurance in 27 American states, earning
nearly $290,000 in the process.

The states include Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Nevada, Rhode Island, Texas, and
Wisconsin.

“Onyegbula allegedly used variations of a single e-mail address
in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud
systems,” the statement partly read.

“By using this practice, Onyegbula made it appear that each
claim was connected to a different email account. The email account
used for fraud was linked to Onyegbula through various electronic
evidences such as phone numbers and IP addresses.

“The email account contained information such as a visa
application receipt, banking information and homework assignments
by Onyegbula’s son. The cyber evidence also includes dozens of tax
return information for U.S. citizens,” the statement explained
further.

As of the time of filing this report, the case is being
prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Cindy Chang and Seth
Wilkinson. The Federal Bureau of Information, with assistance from
the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, is also
investigating the case.

A United States grand jury in Seattle has indicted a Nigerian,
Chukwuemeka Onyegbula, for alleged impersonation and multiple wire
fraud.

Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman announced this on Thursday in
an official statement from the US Ministry of Justice, stating that
the suspect is being detained in Nigeria.

An investigation has revealed that Onyegbula works as an IT
engineer with Pan Ocean Oil Corporation Nigeria Limited.

The indictment and criminal complaint on June 6, 2021 revealed
that Onyegbula under the alias ‘Phillip Carter’ had filed for
fraudulent unemployment insurance in 27 American states, earning
nearly $290,000 in the process.

The states include Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Nevada, Rhode Island, Texas, and
Wisconsin.

“Onyegbula allegedly used variations of a single e-mail address
in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud
systems,” the statement partly read.

“By using this practice, Onyegbula made it appear that each
claim was connected to a different email account. The email account
used for fraud was linked to Onyegbula through various electronic
evidences such as phone numbers and IP addresses.

“The email account contained information such as a visa
application receipt, banking information and homework assignments
by Onyegbula’s son. The cyber evidence also includes dozens of tax
return information for U.S. citizens,” the statement explained
further.

As of the time of filing this report, the case is being
prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Cindy Chang and Seth
Wilkinson. The Federal Bureau of Information, with assistance from
the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, is also
investigating the case.