PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced on Friday that William Nneji, 55, of Canada and Nigeria, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Nneji, who is a former MoneyGram and Western Union agent, used his posts to commit these crimes.
This scheme affected multiple people throughout Central Pa., including those in York and Dauphin counties, among others.
Nneji conspired with his codefendant brother, Chima Nneji, codefendant Alex Mgbolu, and other unnamed individuals between July 2002 and May 2010, according to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam.
Together, they conspired to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering by receiving money transfers from victims of international mass marketing fraud, then processing those transfers using fictitious names, and then pooling the proceeds of those fraud-induced money transfers, also according to Karam. Then, they laundered the money to co-conspirators in both the United States and Nigeria.
As part of his plea agreement, Nneji agreed that he was responsible for approximately $606,967 in losses to victims processed through two companies, Karam stated. One of these companies was owned by his brother and co-conspirator, Chima, and the other was by his wife.
Chima Nneji and Alex Mgbolu both previously pleaded guilty to the same charge, and were sentenced in 2016 and 2017 respectively. They were both extradited to the United States from Canada. William Nneji, on the other hand, had been a fugitive since the time of his indictment until Nov. 2021.
The maximum penalty Nneji could face is five years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case.
