A man from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges in a scheme that defrauded victims of nearly $2 million. Chinedu Ekuma, 45, of Catasauqua, entered his plea before United States District Judge John M. Gallagher.
According to court filings and statements made by Ekuma, the fraudulent activity took place between August 2020 and March 2023. During this period, Ekuma created entities called Intelaris Solutions, LLC and Verge Capital. He opened bank accounts under these names and used them to receive payments from individuals and businesses who believed they were paying legitimate recipients.
Ekuma and others involved in the scheme misled victims by falsely representing that the Intelaris Solutions and Verge Capital accounts belonged to intended payees. In reality, these accounts were controlled by Ekuma, and neither entity had any real connection to the victims.
To further the scheme, fraudulent documents were produced to make it appear as if Intelaris Solutions and Verge Capital were entitled to receive funds from the victims. Once payments were deposited into these accounts, most of the money was transferred to other co-schemers while some was kept by Ekuma.
In total, more than $1.75 million was received through these fraudulent activities. Attempts were also made to collect an additional $650,000 from other victims.
United States Attorney David Metcalf stated: "Chinedu Ekuma...entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge John M. Gallagher on two counts of wire fraud, in connection with a scheme that defrauded victims of nearly $2 million."
The investigation was led by FBI Philadelphia’s Allentown Resident Agency. Assistant United States Attorney Francis Weber is prosecuting the case.
Ekuma is scheduled for sentencing on March 12 and could face up to 40 years in prison.
