{"id":99160,"date":"2022-09-12T09:32:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-12T08:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=99160"},"modified":"2022-09-12T09:32:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T08:32:31","slug":"nigerian-posing-as-ventilator-seller-defrauds-us-of-30m-says-fbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-posing-as-ventilator-seller-defrauds-us-of-30m-says-fbi\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian Posing As Ventilator Seller, Defrauds US Of $30m, Says FBI"},"content":{"rendered":"
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has declared a Nigerian, Chidozie Collins Obasi, wanted over $30m fraud.<\/div>\n
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The FBI said Obasi was indicted and wanted for defrauding New York State more than $30 million by posing as a ventilator seller during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/div>\n
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Aside from posing as ventilator seller, the FBI said the suspect targeted Americans through a spam email campaign offering illegitimate \u201cwork from home\u201d jobs<\/div>\n
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The security agency said the 29-year-old Obasi perpetrated the fraud from Nigeria, with the help of co-conspirators in Canada and elsewhere.<\/div>\n
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In a statement by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, US Attorney Jacqueline Romero, said the suspect was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, and 16 counts of wire fraud.<\/div>\n
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The statement issued on Friday read, \u201cThe defendant and his co-conspirators are alleged to have obtained more than $31,000,000 through this multi-faceted fraud scheme, with the overwhelming majority of that money \u2013 more than $30 million \u2013 coming from the State of New York for the intended purchase of ventilators.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe scheme alleged in the Indictment began in September 2018, with a spam email campaign that offered phony \u201cwork from home\u201d jobs. When a person responded to the phony job offer, Obasi or a co-conspirator posed as a representative of a legitimate company, often a supposed medical equipment supplier based outside the United States, and offered the person a job as the company\u2019s U.S. representative with responsibilities including collecting on outstanding invoices.<\/div>\n
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\u201cA co-conspirator in Canada then sent the new \u201cemployee\u201d counterfeit checks purportedly from customers of the company, and the new \u201cemployee\u201d deposited the checks, took a commission, and wired the rest of the money to a foreign bank account ostensibly owned by the fake company. As alleged in the Indictment, Obasi and his co-conspirators obtained more than $1 million in this manner.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe Indictment further alleges that in approximately March 2020, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and ventilators were in high demand, Obasi posed as a representative of an Indonesian-based medical supply company offering ventilators for sale, and claimed to have a large stockpile of ventilators manufactured by a German company whose headquarters was in Telford, PA. The defendant allegedly convinced a medical equipment broker in the U.S. to broker sales of these non-existent ventilators, and ultimately deceived the State of New York into wiring more than $30 million for the purchase of ventilators that did not exist. Obasi continued to target other potential customers with this same scam, including hospitals.<\/div>\n
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\u201cLater, in approximately June 2020, the Indictment alleges that Obasi and his co-conspirators took advantage of the EID Loan program by using stolen identities of U.S. citizens to apply for and obtain more than $135,000 in EID Loan proceeds.<\/div>\n
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\u201cObasi is presently a fugitive, and the United States is seeking to locate and arrest him. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts should contact their local FBI Office.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf caught and convicted, Obasi faces a maximum sentence of 621 years in prison, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $5,750,000 fine. Obasi also will be required to make full restitution of the more than $31,000,000 that he obtained by fraud.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Lowe.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has declared a Nigerian, Chidozie Collins Obasi, wanted over $30m fraud. The FBI said Obasi was indicted and wanted for defrauding New York…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNigerian Posing As Ventilator Seller, Defrauds US Of $30m, Says FBI - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-posing-as-ventilator-seller-defrauds-us-of-30m-says-fbi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigerian Posing As Ventilator Seller, Defrauds US Of $30m, Says FBI - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has declared a Nigerian, Chidozie Collins Obasi, wanted over $30m fraud. 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