Nigerian Man Jailed 19 Years in US Over $4m Romance, Email Fraud Scheme
A United States federal court has handed down a stiff 19-year prison sentence to a Nigerian man, Leslie Mba, for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that blended romance scams with business email compromise operations.
The 40-year-old was sentenced to 228 months behind bars by Judge David Hittner after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to make false statements in immigration documents. Upon completing his sentence, Mba is expected to face deportation proceedings.
According to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Mba and his accomplices ran the cross-border scheme from April 2018 to December 2023, targeting individuals and businesses.
Prosecutors said the group infiltrated business email accounts and redirected legitimate payments into U.S.-based bank accounts they controlled. Victims, believing they were paying genuine companies, unknowingly transferred funds into the syndicate’s accounts.
Authorities described Mba as a key “money mule” who opened or used bank accounts to receive and move illicit proceeds. Court filings showed that the fraud caused losses exceeding $4 million.
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U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei condemned the romance scam aspect of the operation, describing it as a particularly cruel form of fraud that exploits vulnerable and elderly victims.
He noted that Mba also sought to evade immigration authorities by entering multiple sham marriages after a prior residency application was denied.
FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson said the scheme weaponised emotional manipulation to devastate victims financially and psychologically, vowing continued action against fraud networks.
Four other Houston residents, Grace Morisho, Rodgers Kadikilo, Kristin Smith and Alexandra Golovko, previously pleaded guilty for their roles. While Morisho, Kadikilo and Smith received prison terms ranging from 15 to 25 months, Golovko was sentenced to five years’ probation.
Mba remains in custody and will be transferred to a facility designated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence.
