Nigerian based in France found guilty of defrauding vulnerable victims of wildfires in US
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A Nigerian based in France, Newton Ofioritse Jemide, 47, who was extradited to the United States on March 6 over an $8 million disaster fraud, has been found guilty in court and sentenced to 41 months in prison – three years and five months.
Jemide was sentenced on Tuesday by Judge Deborah K. Chasanow of a US District Court which found him culpable in fraudulently obtaining federal grants meant for vulnerable US citizens.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) proved in court that Jemide, alongside some conspirators, stole the identities of US citizens to open Green Dot accounts used to request federal benefits meant for victims of wildfires between 2016 and 2017.
The convict and others from Nigeria directed co-conspirators living in the US to purchase hundreds of Green Dot debit cards.
“Co-conspirators living in Nigeria then registered the cards with Green Dot using stolen personal information from identity theft victims around the United States,” the DOJ said in a statement issued on its website.
“As a result of fraudulent submissions, FEMA and the other federal agencies deposited benefits onto the Green Dot debit cards.
“Jemide and select co-conspirators informed other co-conspirators when the fraudulent funds became available on the debit cards and gave them information to cash out the funds from the cards in exchange for a commission.”
Jemide and his co-conspirators concealed their identities by using others to make purchases and withdrawals, utilising multiple store and bank locations for withdrawals, and making money orders payable to other individuals and/or corporate entities.
“FEMA dispersed $500 per claim on the Green Dot debit cards that the co-conspirators purchased for a total of at least $8 million.
“US District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Newton Ofioritse Jemide, 47, a Nigerian national extradited from France, to 41 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain federal benefits.
“Jemide will also serve three years of supervised release, and pay $520,431.83 of restitution, and a forfeiture money judgment was entered against him in the amount of $311,036.64.”
Read also:
Wema Bank gives 3 MSMEs N1m grant each to encourage indigenous creativity, enterprise
