PORTLAND, Maine: A citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was sentenced today in federal court for conspiring to commit mail fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.
U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Mukonkole Huge Kifwa, aka Adrien Ndowa, 36, to 40 months in prison, five years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $247,583. Kifwa pleaded guilty on Nov. 10, 2020.
According to court documents, from about March 2015 until November 2016, Kifwa participated in a conspiracy to obtain money through a fraudulent credit card scheme using an international mail carrier. Kifwa and his co-conspirators obtained unauthorized access to bank accounts belonging to unwitting individuals in the United Kingdom, with cash advances using fraudulent credit cards.
The Scarborough Police Department; the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service; Homeland Security Investigations; and the City of London (U.K.) Police investigated the case.
In January 2016, Kifwa, formerly of South Portland, was convicted following a jury trial of federal charges involving visa fraud, bank fraud and firearms. Kifwa was sentenced in that case to 46 months imprisonment and payment of approximately $15,000 in restitution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
