10 Charged In Nigerian Scam

Three of 10 defendants accused in an “advance fee” scheme led by a Nigerian national, in which elderly victims in the Southland and elsewhere were conned out of more than $1.5 million, have pleaded not guilty to federal charges.

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that senders of e-mails falsely claimed to have control of millions of dollars in inheritance money in Nigeria, and told victims they would receive a portion of the money if they paid a variety of advance fees for “taxes” or “documentation,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The lead defendant in the case — Claudio Uche Dibe, 25, of Gardena — was extradited from Canada on Feb. 4. Dibe, a Nigerian national, fled to Canada in 2009 after learning of the investigation.

After being returned to the United States, Dibe pleaded not guilty last month and was ordered held without bond, prosecutors said. Dibe and his associates allegedly claimed to be attorneys, bankers, diplomats or other government officials in order to convince victims they were dealing with legitimate professionals.

The indictment alleges Dibe and his associates lured victims by initially demanding relatively small amounts of money. Once they paid the modest amounts, they were asked to wire increasingly larger amounts — as much as $35,000, according to court documents.

The so-called “Nigerian 419” scam — which refers to the section of the Nigerian criminal code that deals with fraud — bilked at least two dozen victims, most of whom were elderly, out of Advertisement a total of nearly $1.5 million, prosecutors said.

Dibe and two others were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2009. His two co-defendants in that indictment — Bright Amesi, 25, of Gardena, and Briceson Loving, 25, of Lawndale — were among the three arraigned today, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The third defendant arraigned today in Los Angeles federal court was Erika Fletcher, 24, of Inglewood. Fletcher, along with Amesi and Loving, were named in an 11-count indictment returned last month by a Los Angeles federal grand jury. That indictment, which charges a total of nine defendants, includes an e- mail allegedly sent by one of the defendants in which he complains that one of the victims “is insisting that he does not have more money, though I believe he will be able to come up with money. … I believe that … he will pay big money, which is what we are all after.”

The federal investigation into the scam was launched after one of the defendants impersonated an Internal Revenue Service agent to convince a victim to pay fictitious taxes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The 10 defendants who have been charged in the two indictments are: — Dibe, who is charged with 15 counts of wire fraud; — Amesi, who is charged with 15 counts of wire fraud in one indictment and is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the 2011 indictment; — Loving, who is charged with 15 counts of wire fraud and is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the 2011 indictment; — Ezenwa “Larry” Ihenachor, 28, of Gardena, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud; — Erika Fletcher, 24, of Inglewood, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud.

Others are: Devon London, 22, of Los Angeles, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud; — Ellis Allen, 26, of Los Angeles, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud; — Wynterrose Rogers, 25, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud; — Lanisha Andrews, 25, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud; and — Veronica Littlejohn, 43, of Gardena, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud.

Allen, Rogers and Andrews are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on March 14. The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.