BALTIMORE (AP) — A Nigerian national has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for his role in a mail fraud scheme in which he and another man stole bank checks and credit and debit cards and made transactions based on what they stole, a Maryland federal prosecutor said.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron said in a press release Wednesday that a judge sentenced Samson A. Oguntuyi, 29, of Atlanta, to 54 months, followed by three years of probation for conspiracy with a view to committing bank fraud and postal fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In his plea deal, between July 2016 and February 2019, Oguntuyi conspired with others to steal bank checks and credit and debit cards through the mail. The scheme consisted of opening fake business bank accounts using the names of the victim businesses and the stolen identities of postal customers to negotiate the stolen checks by depositing them into the fraudulent bank accounts.
The men then transacted with stolen cash cards and with the money earned from the stolen checks, according to the plea agreement.
According to the plea agreement, at least $565,000 was stolen from two victimized businesses and at least eight clients were victims of identity theft.