Amowie Kelvin Imatitikua didn’t break the hearts of hundreds to swindle their savings. He didn’t steal the identities to fraudulently receive unemployment benefits. And he didn’t swipe the credit cards information in any online scams. But he knew people who did. Apparently, Imatitikua had friends in low places who were ring leaders of schemes. And good friends make sure friends, fraudsters or not, have places to put their money. Like in bank accounts, which Imatitikua opened using bogus identities and fraudulent foreign passports.
Clearly, Imatitikua was no innocent bystander, hiding behind fake identities for his role in dirty money. From 2019 to 2021, Imatitikua’s fraudulently obtained bank accounts which received the proceeds from the various frauds perpetrated by his friends, including pandemic relief fraud, romance scams and other online scams. For opening the accounts and moving the fraudulently gained proceeds of others, Imatitikua received more than $400,000 in his own fraud proceeds. But he may soon wish he had better friends.
On July 26, 2024, Imantitikua pled guilty. In court, the judge outlined the various penalties for the crimes including up to thirty years of imprisonment for bank fraud, and an additional potential 20 years for money laundering. Possibly more time than his friends will face for their schemes. Moreover, fines could amount to about $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss stemming from the bank fraud plots, and up to $500,000 or twice the value of the criminally derived property for money laundering conspiracy. Again, possibly more than the penalty his friends will face.
Excellent job by Homeland Security in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Nigerian National Admits to Multi-Year Romance and Pandemic Relief Scams in Boston Court” published by Hoodline on July 31, 2024.
Amowie Kelvin Imatitikua, a 37-year-old Nigerian national, has admitted to federal charges in Boston related to a series of web-based scams, including romance and pandemic relief fraud. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Imatitikua pleaded guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and money laundering conspiracy on July 26, 2024.
The guilty plea comes after an indictment on December 12, 2023, following investigations into fraudulent activities spanning from 2019 to 2021. Per the reports, Imatitikua opened various bank accounts employing bogus identities and fraudulent foreign passports to collect over $400,000 from different scams. Armed with fraudulent passports, these bank accounts were a channel to siphon the ill-gotten gains of his alleged co-conspirators’ complex deceit.
