Source: United States Department of Justice News
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that William Nneji, age 55, of Canada and Nigeria, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Nneji conspired with his codefendant brother, Chima Nneji, codefendant Alex Mgbolu, and other unnamed individuals between July 2002 and May 2010, to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering by receiving money transfers from victims of international mass marketing fraud, processing those transfers using fictitious names, pooling the proceeds of those fraud induced money transfers, and then laundering those proceeds to coconspirators in the United States and Nigeria.
William Nneji agreed, as part of his plea agreement, that he was responsible for approximately $606,967 in losses to victims processed through two companies, including one owned by his brother, codefendant Chima Nneji, and one owned by his wife.
Codefendants Chima Nneji and Alex Mgbolu both previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. Chima Nneji and Alex Mgbolu were sentenced to terms of imprisonment in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Both codefendants were extradited to the United States from Canada, whereas William Nneji, from the time of his indictment until November 2021, had been a fugitive.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is five years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
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