Attorney Prim F. Escalona | U.S. Department of Justice
A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in an international money laundering conspiracy. U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples announced the sentencing of Toochukwu Michael Okorie, 46, from Bristol, Pennsylvania.
U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler handed down the 108-month sentence after Okorie was convicted in July of conspiracy to commit money laundering. This is not Okorie's first conviction; he was previously found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2011.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that between June 2017 and May 2019, Okorie laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars through two front companies: TMO Consulting LLC and Collective Intelligence Forensics LLC. The scheme involved receiving wire transfers from various fraudulent activities, including business email compromise and romance scams, affecting victims even in the Northern District of Alabama. The fraud proceeds were moved among bank accounts to disguise their origin before being wired to Nigeria or used to purchase automobiles shipped overseas.
Two other individuals involved in this conspiracy have already been sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco. Paulinus Ebhodaghe, 40, from Clementon, New Jersey, received a 37-month sentence on January 20, 2022, while Ohimai Asikhia, 37, from Glassboro, New Jersey, was sentenced to 18 months.
The case was investigated by the FBI with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward J. Canter and John M. Hundscheid. Assistance during the investigation was provided by the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Fraud Task Force.
For more information on cybercrime resources visit www.ic3.gov.
