A Nigerian has been jailed in UK for lottery scam.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian who returned to Britain after being deported was jailed for his role in a \u00a32.7million lottery scam.<\/p>\n
According to Daily Mail, Osas Odia, 33, was booted out of the UK in 2005 after immigration officials discovered he was using a forged stamp in his passport to work.<\/p>\n
… However, the management graduate was allowed to return on a marriage visa after marrying a British nurse.<\/p>\n
Upon returning he joined a group of Nigerian fraudsters who sent thousands of letters to people across the world telling them they had won millions on the lottery.<\/p>\n
The scam letters told readers they would have to send money to \u2018unlock\u2019 their huge windfall.<\/p>\n
One victim, Betty McClellan, 62, wired \u00a3264,000 to the fraudsters to release her \u2018lottery win\u2019.<\/p>\n
When it never arrived, Mrs McClellan was shot dead by her husband Hersey McClellan, 63, in their Los Angeles home in 2010. He then turned the gun on himself.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile an elderly woman living in Bristol lost \u00a3312,000 after she wrongly believed she had won \u00a31.8million on the Australian lottery.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Andrew Evans said the loss of the money had a devastating impact on the Bristol woman.
\n\u201cShe was buying a new home and intended to settle the balance from the winnings she was expecting,\u201d he told Croydon Crown Court.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is now living in sheltered accommodation and feels vulnerable and extremely embarrassed and her family has lost their inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victims included a farmer from Indiana who lost \u00a3339,000 in the hope of winning \u00a314.9million and a Venezuelan businessman who lost \u00a3163,000.<\/p>\n
Police identified 13 victims worldwide, who each lost an average of \u00a3207,000, after they became convinced they were due huge pay-outs.<\/p>\n
Odia\u2019s role in the conspiracy was to launder some of the money which was sent by the victims through three bank accounts in his name.<\/p>\n
Odia was found guilty of conspiring to launder criminal property and was jailed for two years on Friday.
\nHe had been allowed to finish his degree before he was sentenced.<\/p>\n
Judge Jeremy Gold QC told him: \u201cYou are a man of some ability and you have just completed a degree and I hope that means you will not be tempted to return to this sort of crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou played a full part in laundering the proceeds of a sophisticated fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n
His lawyer Paul Brill said: \u201cHe is alarmed and upset by the nature of the fraud and did not realise people\u2019s life savings were being taken so callously in the way they were.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis previous conviction was for a false stamp in his passport that allowed him to work. He has a strong work ethic.\u2019<\/p>\n
It is understood that Odia will be allowed to stay in Britain when he is released because of his marital status.<\/p>\n
The plot\u2019s ringleaders, who spent the money on property, were jailed at an earlier hearing for conspiracy to defraud.<\/p>\n
Obinnam Nwokolo, 37, of Erith, was jailed for six years and four months and student Uchechhukwu Onuoha, 40, also of Erith, was jailed for five years and two months.<\/p>\n
PM News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Nigerian has been jailed in UK for lottery scam. The Nigerian who returned to Britain after being deported was jailed for his role in a \u00a32.7million lottery scam. According…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n