Nigeria: U.S. Indicts Nigerian Over $300,000 Romance, Email Scam

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Leadership report from Abuja, says a federal grand jury in the United States has indicted Okeoghene Patrick Udugba, a 45-year-old Nigerian national living in Frisco, Texas, over alleged participation in romance fraud and business email compromise activity. The report says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the indictment in a statement on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

According to the publisher, Udugba is accused of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Prosecutors allege the scheme helped defraud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of more than $300,000. The allegations, as summarized in the report, involve fake online romantic relationships created through social media and dating platforms with people in several U.S. states.

Leadership reported that U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller said the indictment claims victims were persuaded to act as money mules, receiving and cashing checks tied to the alleged fraud. The report also says members of the network allegedly used spoofed emails from Nigeria to pose as representatives of the U.S. government agency and trigger fraudulent payments.

The case matters because it combines two common cyber-enabled fraud patterns: romance scams, which exploit personal trust, and business email compromise, which relies on impersonation to redirect money. An indictment is a formal accusation, and the allegations against Udugba have not been reported here as proven in court.