Nigerian sentenced for $5.7M scheme with victims in more than 20 countries

FOX 26 Digital Staff
·3 min read
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HOUSTON - Uche Victor Diuno has been sentenced for his involvement in a widespread fraud conspiracy affecting victims in more than 20 countries, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced.

The 57-year-old pleaded guilty on Feb. 1 and was ordered by U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett to serve five years in federal prison and pay $5,693,648 in restitution. As Diuno is not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings after serving his sentence.

At the hearing, the court reviewed Diuno’s testimony, where he admitted to playing a significant role in the fraud and expressed regret for the harm caused to the victims.

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"Diuno helped orchestrate a team of fraudsters impersonating bank executives to pitch fake investments and fake payouts to real victims around the world," said Hamdani. "This international operation, supported by a cadre of co-conspirators, stole millions from victims as far off as Asia and as close as America, all to funnel money and Land Rovers to his boss in Nigeria. Now, the only traveling Diuno will do will be from a prison yard back to his cell."

The fraud involved luring victims with false promises of substantial investment funding and inheritances. Co-conspirators posed as executives and employees of well-known U.S. banks to deceive victims into making payments for securing investment and money transfer agreements. The conspiracy members then laundered these payments through U.S. bank accounts, directing the funds back to leaders in Nigeria.

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Diuno admitted to using multiple aliases to convince victims of the scam’s authenticity and played a key role in laundering the victim funds. Acting on instructions from the scheme’s leader, Diuno directed a co-conspirator to disburse the funds after receiving them, which included transferring money through currency exchangers and buying vehicles to be shipped back to scammers in Nigeria.

Between October 2014 and September 2018, Diuno and his co-conspirators caused nearly $5.7 million in losses.

"Uche Victor Diuno conspired with criminal associates who established false web domains and capitalized on sham visits to U.S. embassies around the globe to defraud millions of dollars from victims in over 20 countries," said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. "This complex, international investment fraud was identified, investigated, and ultimately eradicated due to the diligent work of FBI Houston agents and our key partners at the Department of State’s Office of Inspector General (DOS-OIG)."

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Diuno will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

"DOS-OIG is committed to investigating and bringing to justice individuals involved in international fraud schemes like Uche Victor Diuno," said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Hileman, DOS-OIG. "We greatly appreciate the efforts of our partners at the FBI Houston Field Office, Southern District of Texas, and the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in their diligent investigation and prosecution of Diuno."

The FBI and DOS-OIG conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Latham and Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.