Finally
Tobechi Onwuhara has been apprehended. Took them Five years though, but you can
never hide for long i guess. He’s sure spending the rest of his life behind
bars.
He
owned a hip hop record label and he lived the high life of luxury hotels,
gambling, strippers and bling. But behind the glitz and the glamour Tobechi
Enyinna Onwuhara was one of the FBI’s most wanted men, allegedly a fraudster
who scammed at least $44 million through cyber crimes.
But
the advanced con artist, who fled Florida in August 2008 amid an intense FBI
investigation, has been caught in Sydney and sent back to the US to face a
string of fraud charges.
Nigerian-born
Tobechi Onwuhara, 33, was “provisionally arrested in response to a request from
the United States Government” in December last year, according to a spokeswoman
for the Australian Attorney-General’s department.
Mr
Onwuhara is to face prosecution in the US for fraud related offences, including
identity fraud and computer fraud, the spokeswoman said.
“On
January 29, the Minister for Justice [Jason Clare] made a determination to
surrender Mr Onwuhara to the US.
“As
a matter of long standing practice, the Australian government does not comment
on working matters,” she said.
Fairfax
Media understands Mr Onwuhara had lived it up in Sydney after disappearing in
August 2008.
The
FBI’s website now lists Mr Onwuhara as captured, but with scant detail of the
arrest. They were offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to his
arrest.
The
source who tipped off Fairfax said Mr Onwuhara had made regular trips to The
Star casino as well as splashing cash at many popular nightclubs.
“He
would bet at the Star under a different name, he was a regular, then one day he
just disappeared and someone told us he wanted by the FBI,” a source said.
A
spokeswoman for Echo entertainment, owner of The Star, did not return calls and
emails. The US Consulate in Sydney also did not return calls.
An
Australian Federal Police spokesperson confirmed the AFP arrested Mr Onwuhara.
According
to the FBI’s most wanted list Mr Onwuhara is wanted for his alleged involvement
in an elaborate scheme that defrauded the financial industry out of tens of
millions of dollars.
“Onwuhara
is a key member of a group of Nigerians who allegedly have conducted fraudulent
banking activities from Florida and Texas, since 2005,” the FBI’s most wanted
website states.
“It
is alleged that the group has used online internet databases to steal victims’
identities.
“Once
acquired, they allegedly use the victims’ information to gain access to the
victims’ ‘Home Equity Line of Credit’ accounts and wire transfer the money to
accounts mainly located overseas, some in the United States.”
Some
of Onwuhara’s alleged co-conspirators have been arrested, inside and outside of
the United States, the FBI’s website states.
Onwuhara
was charged federally with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and the US District
Court, Eastern District of Virginia, issued a federal call for for his arrest
on August 1, 2008.
DailyPost.
No comments:
Post a Comment