The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday that Tochuwku Nnebocha, a 43-year-old Nigerian, has been extradited from Poland to face federal charges for operating a transnational criminal organization that defrauded elderly Americans of millions of dollars.
Nnebocha made his initial appearance in federal court in Miami, Florida, following his April 2025 arrest by Polish authorities, based on an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida. He had remained in custody in Poland since his arrest.
Court documents allege that Nnebocha ran an inheritance fraud scheme over five years. He and his accomplices reportedly sent personalized letters to elderly Americans, falsely claiming the recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives in Spain.
Victims were instructed to pay fees for delivery, taxes, or other charges to avoid government scrutiny before receiving their supposed inheritances. However, payments never reached the alleged inheritances, instead being routed through a network of U.S.-based former victims manipulated into forwarding the money to the defendants.
Nnebocha faces charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as mail and wire fraud, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal judge will determine his sentence based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Two other defendants in the scheme, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, extradited from Portugal, and Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, extradited from the United Kingdom, previously pleaded guilty and received prison sentences of 97 months each.
The DOJ highlighted the case as part of ongoing efforts to protect seniors from scams, including romance fraud, lottery fraud, tech support fraud, and grandparent scams, all of which exploit vulnerable populations for financial gain.
Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Josh Rothman of the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case, with investigations supported by the FBI Legal Attaché in Poland, INTERPOL, the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and Polish authorities.
“This extradition underscores our commitment to holding perpetrators accountable, no matter where they operate, and to safeguarding seniors from fraudulent schemes that can devastate lives,” the DOJ stated.
Nnebocha’s extradition adds to the U.S. government’s broader crackdown on transnational fraud, following similar actions against Nigerians involved in computer hacking, identity theft, and other scams targeting Americans.
