Tobechi Onwuhara appears in US Court for $11 Million Bank Equity Fraud after 5 Years as a Fugitive

BEFORE TOBECHI WAS CAPTURED HE WAS THOUGHT TO BE IN ATLANTA

HE WAS CAPTURED IN AUSTRALIA AND DEPORTED TO US HIS COUNTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

King of $11 Million Bank Equity Fraud U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Virginia (703) 299-3700

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara, 33, formerly of Dallas, Texas, has been arrested in Australia after more than four years as a fugitive and brought to the United States to face charges accusing him of leading a home equity line of credit fraud scheme that attempted to steal more than $38 million and caused approximately $13 million in losses.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; David E. Beach, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Washington Field Office; Earl L. Cook, Alexandria Chief of Police; and Robert W. Mathieson, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Onwuhara arrived in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Onwuhara was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest on August 1, 2008. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury on April 21, 2011, and charged with 16 counts, including conspiracy, continuing financial crimes enterprises, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering, and computer fraud. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison, followed by a consecutive mandatory two years in prison for each count of aggravated identity theft.
Information seeking Onwuhara’s arrest was made available through the FBI (seehttp://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cyber/tobechi-enyinna-onwuhara/view ), and he was arrested by Australian Federal Police on December 18, 2012, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued by the United States.
Onwuhara made an initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis today, March 1, 2013, at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Alexandria.
According to court records, Onwuhara is the alleged ringleader of a group of Nigerians who used fee-based web databases to search for potential victim account holders with large balances in home equity line of credit (HELOC) accounts. This information included name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number. Once the conspirators identified a victim, they allegedly used other online databases to obtain information commonly used in security questions, such as the victim’s mother’s maiden name. The conspirators then allegedly obtained credit reports on the victims in order to verify personal information and account balances.
Armed with a victim’s personal information, the conspirators allegedly called the victim’s financial institution, impersonated the victim, and transferred the majority of the available money from the HELOC account into an account from which a wire transfer could be sent. The conspirators would then allegedly wire transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars to domestic or overseas accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy. The conspirators allegedly used caller-ID spoofing services, prepaid cell phones, and PC wireless Internet access cards and transferred victims’ home telephone numbers in order to impersonate the victim and avoid identifying themselves.
Once the fraudulently-transferred funds arrived in the destination bank, a conspirator with access to the account would allegedly withdraw funds and transfer them to other members of the conspiracy after taking a portion of the proceeds for himself.
The following members of this alleged conspiracy have been convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia:

• Obinna Orji, from Arlington, Texas, who was a fugitive since being charged in August 2008, was arrested in December 2012 and pleaded guilty on February 19, 2013. Sentencing scheduled on May 17, 2013.
• Henry “Uche” Obilo, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced to 88 months in prison on September 11, 2009.
• Abel Nnabue, of Dallas, was sentenced to 54 months on January 30, 2009.
• Precious Matthews, of Miami, was sentenced 51 months on February 13, 2009.
• Brandy Anderson, of Dallas, was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and 40 days of community confinement on February 20, 2009.
• Ezenwa Onyedebelu, of Dallas, was sentenced to 37 months on February 27, 2009.
• Daniel Orjinta, of Nigeria, was sentenced to 42 months on March 6, 2009.
• Paula Gipson, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 15 months on September 4, 2009.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, United States Secret Service, and the Alexandria Police Department, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander T.H. Nguyen and Lindsay Kelly are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae .

SOURCE: FBI

Onwuhara was charged federally with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest by the US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, on August 1, 2008.

Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud

TOBECHI ENYINNA ONWUHARA

FBI's Most Wanted Nigerian Fraudster, Tobechi Onwuhara Arrested in Australia*** Has been Elusive since 2008

He was named after Bin Laden as US second  most wanted. He eluded them for 6 years. All eyes were focused in Nigeria and USA , but no he was in another side of the world , Australia. Some one close to him must have busted him. 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 sophisticated 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.

A spokeswoman for the AG’s department said Mr Onwuhara is to face prosecution in the US for fraud related offences, including identity fraud and computer fraud.

“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 operational matters,” she said.

Fairfax Media understands Mr Onwuhara had been living 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 been making regular trips to The Star casino as well as splashing cash at numerous 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 his 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 spokesman 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 been conducting fraudulent banking activities from Florida and Texas, since 2005,” the FBI’s most wanted website states.

“It is alleged that the group has been using 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 a federal warrant was issued for his arrest by the US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, on August 1, 2008.