A United States Court has jailed a Nigerian, Sobanke Adereti, for passport fraud and attempted bank fraud.
A US Attorney, Brit Featherston, stated that the 24-year-old Adereti pleaded guilty to the charges on October 25, 2021, and was sentenced to 33 months in a federal prison by the district judge, Jeremy Kernodle.
According to the court documents, Adereti presented a fake passport and fake cheque when trying to open a bank account in Flower Mound, Texas.
The cheque was purchased by a fraud victim, who was induced into sending money to Adereti, falsely known as Robinson Elijah.
He was believed to have acted as a money mule to cash the victim’s cheque.
When Adereti was arrested, he had additional passports and bank statements with different names in his possession.
Investigators determined that Adereti was also connected to scams related to business email compromise and other government programmes fraud.
Evidence showed that Adereti is the son of a traditional ruler in Nigeria, and entered the US on a visitor’s visa in 2018, which had since expired.
A statement by the US Embassy in Abuja read in part, “Scams to steal money are around every corner. Thanks to the keen eye of bank officials, Adereti was apprehended. Unfortunately, many of these crimes target our vulnerable older population. It is up to all of us to share this awareness and look out for our greatest generation.
“The case, which was part of the Department of Justice Elder Justice Initiative, was investigated by the Diplomatic Security Service for the US Department of State, the Flower Mound Police Department, the US Small Business Administration – Office of Inspector-General, and the US Secret Service, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
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