In a criminal case that could be right out of a fiction novel, the ringleader of a Nigerian group that stole from U.S. home-equity lines of credit who went on the lam has finally been sentenced to prison.
Former Dallas resident Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara was the leader of a group of Nigerians who used fee-based web databases to search for large HELOC account holders, according to the Department of Justice.
Once the group identified potential victims, it would use other online databases to obtain information commonly used in security questions like maiden names of victims’ mothers.
Next, credit reports were pulled to verify personal information and account balances.
With the stolen data in hand, the conspirators called financial institutions and impersonated the victims. They then had the majority of available HELOC funds transferred to accounts from which a wire transfer could be sent.
After that, they wire transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to domestic or overseas accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy.
Caller-ID spoofing services, prepaid cell phones and PC wireless Internet access cards were used in the conspiracy. Victims’ home telephone numbers were transferred so that they could impersonate the victims and avoid identifying themselves.
After the stolen funds landed in the conspirators’ accounts, the money would be withdrawn and distributed.
In all, more than $38 million was stolen. Losses reached $13 million.
Onwuhara spent more than four years as a fugitive and was featured on America’s Most Wanted.
He was arrested in Australia and brought to the United States, where he pled guilty on June 21.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced that Onwuhara, 34, was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Other defendants in the case include Obinna Orji, Henry “Uche” Obilo, Abel Nnabue, Precious Matthews, Brandy Anderson, o Ezenwa Onyedebelu, Daniel Orjinta and Paula Gipson.
