A federal court in the United States has sentenced Nigerian national Ehis Lawrence Akhimie to more than eight months in prison for running a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that netted him more than $6 million.
The sentencing came months after Mr Akhimie, 41, pleaded guilty to several charges of fraud and being part of a gang of fraudsters that specialised in targeting vulnerable individuals in the United States, tricking them into sending millions of dollars.
According to the prosecutors, for several years, the defendant and his co-conspirators, seven of whom had already been convicted and sentenced in the case, perpetrated their fraudulent acts by sending personalised letters to elderly victims through complex websites, claiming to be representatives of a bank in Spain.
The gang would then proceed to inform their victims of how they were entitled to a multimillion-dollar inheritance that had been left for them by a long-dead family member. This is then followed by a request to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and other payments to avoid questioning from government authorities before they could receive the purported inheritance.
In desperate attempts to claim the inheritance, which would never arrive, the victim sent money accounts controlled by the gang, with Mr Akhimie later admitting in court that he defrauded over 400 individuals and earned $6 million in ill-gotten money during the span of the scheme.
Ruling in the case on September 11, 2025, District Court Judge Roy Altman for the Southern District of Florida sentenced Mr Akhimie to 97 months in prison. He joined Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, who was also given a 97-month prison sentence by the same judge in April this year, as the latest individual to be sentenced in the case.
Others convicted in the case include Ezennia Peter Neboh, who was extradited from Spain and received a sentence of 128 months of imprisonment on November 1, 2023. On October 20, 2023, another defendant, who was also extradited from Spain, Kennedy Ikponmwosa, was sentenced to 97 months in prison.
Emmanuel Samuel, Jerry Chucks Ozor, and Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham, all extradited from the United Kingdom, were sentenced to prison sentences of 82 months, 87 months, and 90 months, respectively, for their roles in the scheme.
Meanwhile, Amos Prince Okey Ezemma was extradited to the United States from Nigeria and was sentenced to 90 months of imprisonment in July 2024.
Reacting to Mr Akhimie’s sentencing, U.S. attorney Jason Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said, “Schemes like this steal not only money but dignity from our seniors. Our Office stands with victims, ensures their voices are heard, and will relentlessly pursue those who prey on them.”
