U.S. Authorities have postponed the sentencing of Nigerian businessman Obiwanne Okeke to next year.
Obiwanne Okeke also known as Invictus Obi is alleged to have conspired with some individuals – some of whom are on the run – to defraud American companies and several persons over a period of at least four years.
Before his arrest in 2019 by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the 36-year-old and Chairman of Abuja-based Invictus Group was listed by Forbes as one of the influential young entrepreneurs in the world.
Events that led to Invictus’ arrest
In June 2018, representatives of Unatrac Holding Limited, the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and farm equipment headquartered in the United Kingdom, contacted the FBI to report that they have been scammed through an email compromise.
According to the FBI, the email compromise resulted in fraudulent wire transfers amounting to the tune of nearly $11 million.
“The representatives explained that on or about April 1, 2018, Unatrac’s Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) received a phishing’ email containing a web link, purportedly to the login page of the CFO’s online email account hosted by Microsoft Office365. When the CFO opened the link, it instead led him to a phishing website crafted to imitate the legitimate Office365 login page.
“Believing the page to be real, he entered his login credentials, which were captured by an unknown intruder who controlled the spoofed web page,” FBI documents read.
Forensics revealed that the intruder accessed the CFO’s account at least 464 times, between April 6 and April 20, 2018, mostly from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in Nigeria.
Further forensics traced the IP addresses to Mr Okeke and his co-conspirators, a development which led to his arrest in 2019 by Agents of the American security agency.
He was arrested at the airport while returning to Nigeria after a brief visit to the U.S.
Guilty Plea
Although Mr Okeke spent months denying involvement in the crime before a federal judge in the U.S. and argument over jurisdiction, he eventually pleaded guilty to the allegation of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June.
With the plea, Mr Okeke – who was charged with two counts of computer and wire fraud, – secured the withdrawal of the second indictment that carries a lesser fine and sentence.
Postponement
Mr Okeke’s sentence was initially scheduled for October 22 but a U.S. court sitting in the Eastern District of Virginia postponed it to February 16, 2021.
It will take place by 11 A.M in Norfolk before District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith.
The conviction could see him spend 20 years behind bars with up to $250,000 in fines amongst other potential penalties.
Until then, Mr Okeke will be remanded in a U.S. federal prison.
