Two Nigerians have been sentenced to prison by a US federal court for their involvement in wire fraud.

Franklin Okwonna, 34, and Ebuka Umeti, 35, were convicted for causing over $5 million in losses to multiple victims in the US and elsewhere.

A statement by the US department of justice on Tuesday said Okwonna pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft” on May 20 and was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.

Umeti was convicted on June 13 and sentenced on August 27 to 10 years in prison.

Both men were asked to pay “nearly $5 million” each as restitution.

“According to court documents and evidence presented at Umeti’s trial, between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in unauthorized wire transfers by sending victim businesses phishing emails,” the statement reads.

“These emails falsely appeared as though they originated from trusted sources, such as a bank or a vendor.

“After the victim opened an attachment, their computers would be infected with malicious software, or “malware,” that allowed the defendants and their co-conspirators to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s computer systems and email accounts.

“The defendants and their co-conspirators then exploited that access to obtain sensitive information, which they used to deceive individuals at the victim companies into executing wire transfers to accounts specified by the co-conspirators.

“As a result of this scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused or attempted to cause over $5 million in losses to the victim companies.”

A Canadian-Nigerian woman, Amaka Sonnberger, is set to appear in court on Monday, September 2, 2024, following her arrest by Toronto Police for allegedly making hate-motivated threats against members of the Nigerian community.

Sonnberger has been charged with uttering threats and will face a judge at the Ontario Court of Justice.

The case is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offense, with the Toronto Police Hate Crime Unit actively involved in the investigation.

In a statement titled “Suspected Hate-Motivated Threatening Investigation, Woman Arrested,” the Toronto Police Service confirmed the arrest and provided details of the ongoing case.

The statement reads: “Toronto Police have arrested a woman in connection with a suspected hate-motivated threat investigation. The arrest follows a report received on August 28, 2024, regarding a threatening incident. Authorities allege that on or around August 25, 2024, Amaka Sonnberger, 46, of Toronto, posted online content threatening the lives of specific members of the Nigerian community.

“Sonnberger was taken into custody on September 1, 2024, and has been charged with uttering threats. She is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, September 2, 2024, at the Ontario Court of Justice, located at 2201 Finch Avenue West.

“The investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offense. Police are urging anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-3500 or reach out anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com.”

Hate-motivated crimes The Toronto Police statement also noted that hate-motivated crimes may involve consultation with the Crown, and if convicted, hate is considered an aggravating factor in sentencing.

It added that charges related to hate speech, such as promoting hatred or advocating genocide, require the Attorney General’s consent and are often delayed.

“When suspected hate-motivated offenses are reported to police, the investigation could be led by a Divisional Investigator with the support of the Hate Crime Unit (HCU), or in some cases, will be investigated exclusively by the HCU.

“If it is alleged a criminal offense was committed (such as assault or mischief) and it is believed to have been motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate, the officer-in-charge may consult with the Crown. If a person is charged and convicted of the offense, the Judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence.

“Wilful promotion of hatred and advocating genocide are hate propaganda (hate speech) offenses which require the Attorney General’s consent to lay charges. These charges are often laid at a later time,” the statement concluded.

..Recovers tramadol consignment in cosmetics packs, as wanted ex-beauty queen surrenders after 8 months in hiding

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a total of Thirty-One Million One Hundred and Twenty-Four Thousand Six Hundred (31, 124, 600) pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over Seventeen Billion Nine Hundred and Thirty-Two Million Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N17, 932, 200, 000.00) in street value at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state and Tincan seaport in Lagos.

The seizures were made following intelligence processed by the Agency on the movement of the shipments from their port of origin in India, leading to a demand for a 100 percent joint examination of the watch-listed containers with the Nigerian Customs Service and other sister security agencies.

A breakdown of the seizures show that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th August 2024. Each of the two containers had 175,000 bottles of the opioid.

At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted a total of 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg containing Twenty-Nine Million Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand (29, 840,000) pills of the opioid as well as 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on Thursday 29th August.

The tramadol shipments came under different brand names such as Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.

The following day, Friday 30th August, another set of three containers watch-listed by NDLEA were subjected to joint examination. At the end of the exercise, a total of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles of the opioid were recovered from them.

This brings the total bottles of codeine seized at Onne, Rivers and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8,992,200,000.00 in street value while the combined seizure of tramadol stood at 29, 840,000 pills valued at N8,940,000,000.00.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers state on Tuesday 27th August arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, while attempting to board a Cronos airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea with 1,490 pills of tramadol concealed and packaged as cosmetics of different brands inside his luggage.

His attempt to compromise the officers to evade arrest was rebuffed.

Meanwhile, a wanted ex-beauty queen, Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye has surrendered to the Lagos Command of the Agency after about eight months in hiding.

She was declared wanted by the Agency in January after she escaped from her Lekki, Lagos residence when NDLEA operatives raided her apartment at Oral estate, Lekki on Wednesday 24th January following credible intelligence she deals in illicit substances. The suspect was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and founder of Queen Christmas Foundation.

Recovered from her home during the search witnessed by the estate officials include 606 grams of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drugs packing plastics, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame among others.

The suspect who claimed she has been hiding in Akure Ondo state since January when she escaped arrest in Lekki Lagos however surrendered to the Agency on Wednesday 28th August.

No less than 1,122 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim when he was arrested on Monday 26th August along Orchid road, Ajah, Lagos, while 816kg of the same psychoactive substance belonging to a suspect at large was recovered from the same location same day.

In Niger state, NDLEA operatives on Monday 26th August arrested a suspect Friday Gabriel along Minna-Suleja road while conveying 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets. Similarly, operatives in Bauchi state on Saturday 31st August arrested two suspects: Garba Muhammed, 35; and Usman Yakubu Shehu, 31, along Bauchi-Gombe road while transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4kg, concealed in false compartment of a J5 bus marked Edo state URM 38 ZY.

In the same vein, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to members of Amankwu community, Ohafia LGA, Abia state; WADA advocacy visit to the Vice Chancellor, University of Delta, Prof. Stella Chiemeka, Agbor, Delta state; WADA sensitisation lecture to members of Down Luggere community, Jimeta, Yola North LGA, Adamawa state; youths at the ‘Save the Children Campaign’ annual holiday camp at Community Secondary School, Aka Offot, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state; youths during their summer class at Olubadan stadium, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo state and WADA advocacy visit to Central Bank, Kaduna office, Kaduna state.

In his response to the latest seizures and arrests, Chairman/ Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended all the officers and men of PHPC, Tincan and the Special Operations Unit of the Agency that had been working on the targeted containers for their vigilance and professionalism.

He equally praised the support received from other stakeholders at the ports that enabled the seamless and successful operations in the course of targeting the shipments.

He also applauded operatives in Lagos, Niger, Bauchi and PHIA as well as other Commands across the country for their diligence and balance in their drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction efforts.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Sunday 1st September 2024