A 42-year-old Nigerian man, Isaiah Okere, has pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 15 American individuals and organizations of over $1 million through online scams.
In a hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman in New York on Tuesday, Okere admitted to his involvement in a wire fraud scheme.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, revealed that Okere collaborated with members of the international criminal organization Black Axe to carry out multiple scams targeting vulnerable individuals. These included business email compromise schemes, lottery frauds, and romantic scams, primarily aimed at elderly and isolated victims, some of whom lost their entire life savings.
Okere was apprehended in South Africa in December 2021 and extradited to the United States on August 23, 2024. Following his guilty plea to “one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,” he now faces a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
Williams emphasized that “Isaiah Okere and his co-conspirators preyed on elderly and vulnerable victims, some of whom lost their entire life savings,” adding that the office’s global reach ensures accountability for crimes committed.
The fraudulent activities spanned from 2015 until November 2019, inflicting significant emotional and financial harm on the victims. Many were led to believe they were in romantic relationships with Okere and his accomplices, resulting in them depleting their retirement savings and borrowing from family and friends. One victim reported feeling suicidal after losing her funds to the scheme.
In addition to romantic scams, Okere and his associates engaged in theft through fraudulent lottery schemes and business email compromise (BEC) scams.
“Many victims experienced severe emotional harm, including a woman who reported becoming suicidal after losing her retirement savings to this scheme.
“He used the phoney lottery scheme to inform certain victims that they had won a cash prize but first needed to make certain payments to access the funds.
“Similarly, using the BEC fraud scheme to induce a corporate victim located in Manhattan to release company funds under fraudulent pretences by impersonating the founder of the company.
“Okere used accounts under false identities to communicate directly with his US victims. He also controlled multiple foreign bank accounts in South Africa that received funds from victims targeted by these schemes,” the US stated.
Timy Hakim, Okere’s accomplice, was sentenced to two years in jail in 2023 and forced to repay more than $1.4 million in compensation.
