A Nigerian national, Samuel Ugberaese, has been extradited to the United States to face federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, following allegations that he participated in an international romance scam that preyed on elderly victims across America and other countries.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed the arrest, describing it as the product of coordinated operations between American and Nigerian law enforcement agencies.
Ugberaese is now before the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where a federal grand jury had returned an indictment against him on January 22, 2021. He appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Brian S. Myers, who ordered that he remain in custody pending trial.
According to court documents, Ugberaese and accomplices ran sophisticated romance scams in which victims were manipulated through fake emotional relationships, fabricated stories, and false promises before being persuaded to transfer money.
Prosecutors alleged that Ugberaese worked with co-defendant Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, a naturalised U.S. citizen, to move and conceal fraud proceeds through a network of bank accounts, including accounts linked to purported export companies. The financial transactions, investigators said, were designed to disguise the origin, ownership, and movement of funds obtained from victims.
If convicted on both counts, Ugberaese faces up to 40 years imprisonment under U.S. federal law.
Authorities said the extradition involved extensive international cooperation among the FBI, the U.S. Department of State, the Nigeria Police Force through INTERPOL, Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Office, and the South African Police Service.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam F. Hulbig of the Fraud Section in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
U.S. authorities stressed that the indictment remains an allegation and that Ugberaese is presumed innocent until proven guilty.