A Georgia man has been sentenced to five years of probation, including two years of home confinement, for his role in laundering money obtained through internet scams. Emmanuel Ugbaja, 56, of Duluth, Georgia, received the sentence from United States District Judge Darrel James Papillion after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to court records, two victims were targeted in separate online fraud schemes in 2018. One victim from Kansas was deceived by a person posing as a romantic partner in a "romance scam," while another victim from California was tricked by someone pretending to be an attorney in an "inheritance scam." Both victims were instructed by co-conspirators to send funds to a bank account controlled by Ugbaja. He kept part of the money and sent a total of $60,000 to a local maritime broker as part of a down payment for an unrelated vessel purchase.
In addition to probation and home confinement, Ugbaja must pay more than $97,000 in restitution to the two fraud victims and over $135,000 to the Small Business Administration for uncharged CARES Act COVID-19 funding fraud. He was also ordered to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.
"This indictment is part of an ongoing national effort by the Department of Justice to address online fraud schemes often based overseas that target U.S. citizens. The public is encouraged to report potential online fraud activity or scams to the Federal Bureau of Investigation at https://www.ic3.gov/."
The United States Attorney’s Office acknowledged assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera from the Financial Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
