CHICAGO — Two Nigerian nationals and a U.S. Citizen residing in the Chicago suburbs were charged last week for several cyber-enabled fraud conspiracies, an undercover federal law enforcement investigation revealed.
The following agency heads announced the charges: U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr., Northern District of Illinois; Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago; Inspector in Charge William Hedrick, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Chicago; Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Enstrom, IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago; and Robert Berlin, DuPage County State’s Attorney.
Samuel Aniukwu, 46, a Nigerian national residing in Romeoville, Illinois; Anthony Emeka Ibekie, 55, a Nigerian national residing in Oswego, Illinois; and, Jennifer Gosha, 48, a U.S. citizen residing in Oak Park, Illinois were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
One of the alleged schemes involved “romance scams,” in which a conspirator builds trust with a victim through a purported online romance before convincing the victim to send money to a predetermined recipient.