Meet Osondu Victor IGWILO, a Nigerian Scammer
In 2018, the FBI Houston office charged IGWILO with being the “Chairman” of a scheme where IGWILO and his team would send emails claiming to be BB&T Bank Executives and executing various “advance-fee schemes” including investment scams and inheritance scams.
Charged alongside IGWILO were Laura Chinwa NDIFE, Timothy Adedoyin ADEROUNMU, Steve NATHANIEL, Ugochukwu Anthony Chukwura ABUNYIE, Andrew Chidiebere IBE, Ikechukwu Nnamdi ADUAKA, and Stephen Ugochukwu NWOKOYE.
The Case Against Them
The roles described in the FBI indictment include “Catchers” who ran the initial online contact, “Representatives” who posed as agents or employees of financial institutions at in-person meetings, and “Money movers” who received the funds via bank wire or MoneyGram, and then either wired the funds overseas or purchased goods or vehicles and shipped them overseas. At the top of this org was “The Chairman’ who “controlled and directed catchers, consultants, representatives, and money movers on how to interact with victims in furtherance of the scam. Using telephone, online instant messaging, and email, the chairman served as the link between the money movers and consultants to ensure that there were U.S. bank accounts available to receive wire transfers from the victims.”
In this case, the consultants and catchers are said to have referred to IGWILO as “Ezego” which the indictment says means “King of Money” in Igbo. All of those charged in this indictment lived in Nigeria.
Uju Okigbo, who lived in Richmond, Texas, was a money mover. Using a fake name, she formed the company U-4CS Services, LLC, an “export services” company, and opened bank accounts in that name.
A Tale of Two Cases
OKIGBO was listed as a Co-Conspirator in the IGWILO case but was not charged, as she was already the focus of another case, involving several U.S. Persons. In her indictment, we see that her other crew imitated bank executives of BB&T and JPMorgan Chase to initiate their scams.
In the criminal complaint against OKIGBO, the FBI agent attests that victims were found not only in Texas, but also Mongolia, Canada, Denmark, South Korea, and Colorado. After having multiple accounts closed for fraud, OKIGBO continued to open new accounts to receive funds, which were either directly wired overseas, or used to purchase cars that were then shipped to Nigeria. As an example of one investment scam, Mongolian victims told the FBI agent that a member of the conspiracy imitating a bank executive promised them a $22.5 Million return on their investment. To add credibility to the scam, a “Representative” flew to Mongolia and in the sight of the victims, entered the U.S. Embassy there and exited again a short time later with a document that purportedly was a guarantee from the U.S. government that the funds would be transferred after they paid the $385,000 fee. The investors wired $980,000 to OKIGBO’s U-4CS bank account in twelve transactions. A similar case in Canada resulted in $563,180 being stolen. In Australia, the Impersonator drove the victim to the U.S. Consulate while they went in to “obtain” a similar document. They sent $135,000. The Denmark case also involved entry into the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen by an impersonator and lost $25,000 before being warned it was a scam. A Korean victim also met in person with an impersonator and wired $156,000 to accounts controlled by OKIGBO.
OKIGBO was arrested in 20 NOV 2017 and bonded out for $150,000. She was re-arrested 02FEB2018. After being released on bail, OKIGBO opened new bank accounts in the company name ONAC SERVICES LLC. New Catchers imitated BB&T and JPMorgan Chase executives and new impersonators were recruited, one of which flew to Australia to play the “walk into the embassy” game with a new victim, who wired $250,000 to OKIGBO’s new account. A superseding indictment and then a second superseding indictment were filed, adding additional codefendants. She pled guilty and for various reasons has still not been sentenced although the original sentencing hearing was scheduled in 2019. She is still in custody at this time.
The Rest of Them
- OKIGBO was a Money Mover, using her companies U-4CS Services, LLC and ONAC Services, LLC to receive funds and ship vehicles overseas. ONAC Services is listed as having a “Managing Member” named “Imabong Okokon” (14520 Briar Forest Dr #5203, Houston, TX 77077) by the Texas Secretary of State, but that person does not seem to be charged here.
- UNDERWOOD lived in Manila, Philippines and was a Representative.
- RUTLEDGE lived in Yaphank, New York and was a Representative.
- MARTIN lived in Carthage, Missouri and was a Representative.
- NWOSIS lived in Indianapolis, Indiana and was a Money Mover, using his company “Indyrides, LLC” to receive funds and ship vehicles overseas.
- UCHE VICTOR DIUNO lived in Lagos, Nigeria and was the Chairman in this case. He was arrested in Paris, France on 29SEP2018.
Back to IGWILO
On 14MAR2022, the EFCC in Nigeria announced that they had arrested IGWILO and three others “for $100 Million Fraud” and said “It was the end of the road” for IGWILO and his co-conspirators.
Imitating Palestinians
After being charged in the US, IGWILO and his Nigerian crew changed up their game. His Representatives started imitating The Palestinian Authority. In this case, Ajana Kenneth EMEKA was passing himself off as “Hany A.O. Salman Halima” and claiming that the investment was backed by the Palestinian Authority. He also imitated “Christopher Dods” and “Emeka Nwagu” of the Nigerian Federal Road Safety Commission.
The Breakdown
This headline “Jailed 16 Years in Lagos” captures the difference between US criminal justice and Nigerian criminal justice. In the US we have many oddities based on our history that completely frustrate us as we try to work cybercrime cases. An example of that? When charges are brought in Federal court, they only charge the cases where a victim of the criminal was in the federal district where the case was brought. Although the Department of Justice press releases describe “$100 Million in fraud” the actual case only brings $7 Million in charges, because when our laws were made, no one could imagine that a criminal might do crimes in many different jurisdictions to thousands of victims.
Nigeria carries similar baggage. Their criminal justice system allows payment of “an equivalent fine” which is roughly based on the amount of money one would earn working in Nigeria for the months or years spent in prison. Think “go to jail for a year or forfeit one year of salary.” The problem is that this equation never considered that a criminal might steal a billion Naira (or in this case, 79 billion Naira) from foreigners. What does “Jailed for 16 Years” mean in Nigeria? Let’s look at the EFCC’s full sentencing statement against EKEMA.
“Delivering judgment on October 3, 2023, Justice Ijelu held that the prosecution proved the eight counts against [EMEKA] beyond reasonable doubts and declared him guilty as charged on all the counts.
He was consequently sentenced to two years on counts one to three each, with an option of fine of N250,000; two years on count four, with an option of fine of N300,000; two years on count five, with an option of fine of N250,000, two years on count six, with an option of fine of N250,000; and two years on counts seven and eight each, with an option of fine of N300,000.
The fines are to be paid within 30 days, otherwise, he will serve out the prison terms.”
(N250,000 x 3) + N300,000 + N250,000, + N250,000, + (N300,000 x2) = N2,150,000 = $2,706 USD*.
A Miscarriage of Justice
That’s right. The “Jailed for 16 Years” headline in Nigeria can be entirely bypassed by paying a file of $2,706. Did we mention this crew stole ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS? And the penalty for being part of that? $2,706.
This is normal criminal justice in Nigeria. You can see how often the fine is paid in this listing of the EFCC’s 3785 convictions in 2022, where page after page of sentences are listed, most with fines of between N100,000 ($125) and N500,000 ($629).
It should be noted that IGWILO did forfeit “five houses in choice neighborhoods” as well.
* – using current value of Naira to USDollar. It should be noted that the Naira collapsed in June 2023, losing half of its value, after President Tinubu fired the central bank governor Godwin Emefiele, and stopped his policies of propping up the Naira’s international value.
ScamsNOW!
The SCARS Institute Magazine about Scam Victims-Survivors, Scams, Fraud & Cybercrime
Nigerian Scammer Justice: Why We MUST Extradite
A Nigerian Scammer Comparison of Criminal Justice
A Guest Editorial
Author:
• Gary Warner, UAB Computer Forensics / DarkTower Threat Intelligence
Why Extradition Of Nigerian Scammers Is So Important? Because Nigeria’s EFCC Lets Them Off With A Slap On The Hand!
Meet Osondu Victor IGWILO, a Nigerian Scammer
In 2018, the FBI Houston office charged IGWILO with being the “Chairman” of a scheme where IGWILO and his team would send emails claiming to be BB&T Bank Executives and executing various “advance-fee schemes” including investment scams and inheritance scams.
Charged alongside IGWILO were Laura Chinwa NDIFE, Timothy Adedoyin ADEROUNMU, Steve NATHANIEL, Ugochukwu Anthony Chukwura ABUNYIE, Andrew Chidiebere IBE, Ikechukwu Nnamdi ADUAKA, and Stephen Ugochukwu NWOKOYE.
The Case Against Them
The roles described in the FBI indictment include “Catchers” who ran the initial online contact, “Representatives” who posed as agents or employees of financial institutions at in-person meetings, and “Money movers” who received the funds via bank wire or MoneyGram, and then either wired the funds overseas or purchased goods or vehicles and shipped them overseas. At the top of this org was “The Chairman’ who “controlled and directed catchers, consultants, representatives, and money movers on how to interact with victims in furtherance of the scam. Using telephone, online instant messaging, and email, the chairman served as the link between the money movers and consultants to ensure that there were U.S. bank accounts available to receive wire transfers from the victims.”
In this case, the consultants and catchers are said to have referred to IGWILO as “Ezego” which the indictment says means “King of Money” in Igbo. All of those charged in this indictment lived in Nigeria.
Uju Okigbo, who lived in Richmond, Texas, was a money mover. Using a fake name, she formed the company U-4CS Services, LLC, an “export services” company, and opened bank accounts in that name.
A Tale of Two Cases
OKIGBO was listed as a Co-Conspirator in the IGWILO case but was not charged, as she was already the focus of another case, involving several U.S. Persons. In her indictment, we see that her other crew imitated bank executives of BB&T and JPMorgan Chase to initiate their scams.
In the criminal complaint against OKIGBO, the FBI agent attests that victims were found not only in Texas, but also Mongolia, Canada, Denmark, South Korea, and Colorado. After having multiple accounts closed for fraud, OKIGBO continued to open new accounts to receive funds, which were either directly wired overseas, or used to purchase cars that were then shipped to Nigeria. As an example of one investment scam, Mongolian victims told the FBI agent that a member of the conspiracy imitating a bank executive promised them a $22.5 Million return on their investment. To add credibility to the scam, a “Representative” flew to Mongolia and in the sight of the victims, entered the U.S. Embassy there and exited again a short time later with a document that purportedly was a guarantee from the U.S. government that the funds would be transferred after they paid the $385,000 fee. The investors wired $980,000 to OKIGBO’s U-4CS bank account in twelve transactions. A similar case in Canada resulted in $563,180 being stolen. In Australia, the Impersonator drove the victim to the U.S. Consulate while they went in to “obtain” a similar document. They sent $135,000. The Denmark case also involved entry into the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen by an impersonator and lost $25,000 before being warned it was a scam. A Korean victim also met in person with an impersonator and wired $156,000 to accounts controlled by OKIGBO.
OKIGBO was arrested in 20 NOV 2017 and bonded out for $150,000. She was re-arrested 02FEB2018. After being released on bail, OKIGBO opened new bank accounts in the company name ONAC SERVICES LLC. New Catchers imitated BB&T and JPMorgan Chase executives and new impersonators were recruited, one of which flew to Australia to play the “walk into the embassy” game with a new victim, who wired $250,000 to OKIGBO’s new account. A superseding indictment and then a second superseding indictment were filed, adding additional codefendants. She pled guilty and for various reasons has still not been sentenced although the original sentencing hearing was scheduled in 2019. She is still in custody at this time.
The Rest of Them
Back to IGWILO
On 14MAR2022, the EFCC in Nigeria announced that they had arrested IGWILO and three others “for $100 Million Fraud” and said “It was the end of the road” for IGWILO and his co-conspirators.
Imitating Palestinians
After being charged in the US, IGWILO and his Nigerian crew changed up their game. His Representatives started imitating The Palestinian Authority. In this case, Ajana Kenneth EMEKA was passing himself off as “Hany A.O. Salman Halima” and claiming that the investment was backed by the Palestinian Authority. He also imitated “Christopher Dods” and “Emeka Nwagu” of the Nigerian Federal Road Safety Commission.
The Breakdown
This headline “Jailed 16 Years in Lagos” captures the difference between US criminal justice and Nigerian criminal justice. In the US we have many oddities based on our history that completely frustrate us as we try to work cybercrime cases. An example of that? When charges are brought in Federal court, they only charge the cases where a victim of the criminal was in the federal district where the case was brought. Although the Department of Justice press releases describe “$100 Million in fraud” the actual case only brings $7 Million in charges, because when our laws were made, no one could imagine that a criminal might do crimes in many different jurisdictions to thousands of victims.
Nigeria carries similar baggage. Their criminal justice system allows payment of “an equivalent fine” which is roughly based on the amount of money one would earn working in Nigeria for the months or years spent in prison. Think “go to jail for a year or forfeit one year of salary.” The problem is that this equation never considered that a criminal might steal a billion Naira (or in this case, 79 billion Naira) from foreigners. What does “Jailed for 16 Years” mean in Nigeria? Let’s look at the EFCC’s full sentencing statement against EKEMA.
“Delivering judgment on October 3, 2023, Justice Ijelu held that the prosecution proved the eight counts against [EMEKA] beyond reasonable doubts and declared him guilty as charged on all the counts.
He was consequently sentenced to two years on counts one to three each, with an option of fine of N250,000; two years on count four, with an option of fine of N300,000; two years on count five, with an option of fine of N250,000, two years on count six, with an option of fine of N250,000; and two years on counts seven and eight each, with an option of fine of N300,000.
The fines are to be paid within 30 days, otherwise, he will serve out the prison terms.”
(N250,000 x 3) + N300,000 + N250,000, + N250,000, + (N300,000 x2) = N2,150,000 = $2,706 USD*.
A Miscarriage of Justice
That’s right. The “Jailed for 16 Years” headline in Nigeria can be entirely bypassed by paying a file of $2,706. Did we mention this crew stole ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS? And the penalty for being part of that? $2,706.
This is normal criminal justice in Nigeria. You can see how often the fine is paid in this listing of the EFCC’s 3785 convictions in 2022, where page after page of sentences are listed, most with fines of between N100,000 ($125) and N500,000 ($629).
It should be noted that IGWILO did forfeit “five houses in choice neighborhoods” as well.
* – using current value of Naira to USDollar. It should be noted that the Naira collapsed in June 2023, losing half of its value, after President Tinubu fired the central bank governor Godwin Emefiele, and stopped his policies of propping up the Naira’s international value.
More:
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Please share your thoughts in a comment below!
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Introverts Differ from Extroverts in Recovery Programs – 2025
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-/ 30 /-
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Please share your thoughts in a comment above!
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Statement About Victim Blaming
Some of our articles discuss various aspects of victims. This is both about better understanding victims (the science of victimology) and their behaviors and psychology. This helps us to educate victims/survivors about why these crimes happened and not to blame themselves, better develop recovery programs, and help victims avoid scams in the future. At times, this may sound like blaming the victim, but it does not blame scam victims; we are simply explaining the hows and whys of the experience victims have.
These articles, about the Psychology of Scams or Victim Psychology – meaning that all humans have psychological or cognitive characteristics in common that can either be exploited or work against us – help us all to understand the unique challenges victims face before, during, and after scams, fraud, or cybercrimes. These sometimes talk about some of the vulnerabilities the scammers exploit. Victims rarely have control of them or are even aware of them, until something like a scam happens, and then they can learn how their mind works and how to overcome these mechanisms.
Articles like these help victims and others understand these processes and how to help prevent them from being exploited again or to help them recover more easily by understanding their post-scam behaviors. Learn more about the Psychology of Scams at www.ScamPsychology.org
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All articles about psychology and the human brain on this website are for information & education only
The information provided in this and other SCARS articles are intended for educational and self-help purposes only and should not be construed as a substitute for professional therapy or counseling.
Note about Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices have the potential to create psychological distress for some individuals. Please consult a mental health professional or experienced meditation instructor for guidance should you encounter difficulties.
While any self-help techniques outlined herein may be beneficial for scam victims seeking to recover from their experience and move towards recovery, it is important to consult with a qualified mental health professional before initiating any course of action. Each individual’s experience and needs are unique, and what works for one person may not be suitable for another.
Additionally, any approach may not be appropriate for individuals with certain pre-existing mental health conditions or trauma histories. It is advisable to seek guidance from a licensed therapist or counselor who can provide personalized support, guidance, and treatment tailored to your specific needs.
If you are experiencing significant distress or emotional difficulties related to a scam or other traumatic event, please consult your doctor or mental health provider for appropriate care and support.
Also read our SCARS Institute Statement about Professional Care for Scam Victims – click here
If you are in crisis, feeling desperate, or in despair, please call 988 or your local crisis hotline.
More ScamsNOW.com Articles
Salience-Driven Attentional Capture and Sustained Elaboration – That Aha-Moment Scam Victims Experience – 2025
The Difference Between Panic Attacks and Anxiety Attacks for Scam Victims – 2025
Kaizen – Japanese Philosophy of ‘Good Change’ for Scam Victim Recovery – 2025
Introverts Differ from Extroverts in Recovery Programs – 2025
Jamais Vu and the Collapse of Reality: When You Realize It Was All a Scam – 2025
What is Commitment? 2025
Zebra Theory and Online Predation – 2025
Post-Traumatic Growth – Transforming Pain – 2025
A Question of Trust
At the SCARS Institute, we invite you to do your own research on the topics we speak about and publish. Our team investigates the subject being discussed, especially when it comes to understanding the scam victims-survivors’ experience. You can do Google searches, but in many cases, you will have to wade through scientific papers and studies. However, remember that biases and perspectives matter and influence the outcome. Regardless, we encourage you to explore these topics as thoroughly as you can for your own awareness.
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