- December 16, 2011
- Category: fraud, ICE, Immigration & Customs Enforcement
A Blaine, Wash., man convicted on federal wire fraud and tax charges for his role in a “Nigerian inheritance” fraud scheme was sentenced Friday to five years in prison following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
Stuart convinced various investors across the country to send him money so he could claim a Nigerian inheritance from a bank in Canada.Ā Stuart represented to investors that his father had made millions constructing an oil pipeline in Nigeria.Ā Stuart claimed his inheritance from his father was in a bank in Canada, and if investors provided enough money to pay the taxes, he would be able to access $30 million and investors would get a large return on their investment. There was no inheritance or Canadian bank account.Ā Stuart collected more than $3.8 million from investors across the country.
Stuart, who had previously been a victim of one of these scams, turned to actually committing these crimes.Ā His crime spree lasted between 2003 and 2010 and netted him $3.8 million!Ā Some people wired as much as $45,000 to Stuart in hopes of a big payday when his “inheritance” came through.Ā Various investors convinced their friends to participate as well, believing that if Stuart had just a bit more money, he would be able to access the large inheritance.Ā
I find it shocking at how much money people were sending Stuart.Ā This was a job well done by ICE!!
Source:Ā ICE.GOV