NewStats: 3,265,538 , 8,187,137 topics. Date: Sunday, 15 June 2025 at 04:30 PM 691a9

A Nigerian legal practitioner, Okechukwu Josiah Odunna, appeared in a Federal Court in Miami, Florida where he is accused of playing a key role in a fraud scheme in which he fraudulently obtained loans in connection with the fraudulent purchases of approximately 20 residential properties in Florida.

The Justice Department in a press statement announced on Friday, March 7, 2025, said the plot resulted in the loss of about $8 million to U.S. financial institutions.

Odunna, 60, a resident of Abuja, faces charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution.

Odunna was arrested on Sept. 24, 2024, by Nigerian authorities pursuant to a U.S. extradition request.

Nigerian authorities extradited Odunna to the Southern District of Florida on March 6, after he waived extradition.

He has remained incarcerated since his arrest. Odunna is scheduled to appear at his pretrial detention and arraignment hearings on March 11 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman.

According to the indictment, between December 2005 and approximately May 2008, Odunna and his co-conspirators devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain money by making false representations and material omissions to U.S. banking institutions.

As part of the scheme, Odunna and his co-conspirators would, among other things: submit false and fraudulent loan applications and documents to financial institutions relating to purchases of residential properties, resulting in lenders loaning out more money than they otherwise would.

These false statements to the lenders included false names of the persons who would be borrowing the money to purchase the properties, falsely inflated sale prices that were much higher than the true prices and false details regarding the receipt and disbursement of funds in connection with the purchases of the properties.

Odunna, who was a licensed attorney at the time, was also one of the directors of Direct Title and Escrow Services, Inc. (DTES).

Odunna was the settlement agent in approximately 20 fraudulent closings of property purchases.

To disguise the fraud, Odunna and his co-conspirators provided sellers and lenders with two different settlement statements, which included false information and omitted information regarding the sale price, the identity of the purchaser, and the receipt and the disbursement of funds.

Odunna’s co-conspirators, charged in the same indictment, included Karl Oreste, Marie Lucie Tondreau and Kelly Augustin. Oreste pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 100 months in prison.

Tondreau, who was the former Mayor of North Miami, was convicted at trial. She was sentenced to 65 months in prison. Augustin remains a fugitive.

If convicted, Odunna faces up to 30 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution charge and up to 30 years in prison on the wire fraud affecting a financial institution charge.

Each count also carries the possibility of a fine and supervised release upon completion of any prison sentence. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office, and Commissioner Russell C. Weigel, III, of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR), made the announcement.

The FBI Miami and OFR are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Odunna.

The United States also thanks the FBI International Operations Division, Africa Unit Legal Attaché Office, Abuja, Nigeria, Ministry of Justice, Central Authority Unit, Nigeria, and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria for their valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove is handling asset forfeiture.

Odunna was a Deputy Director, Legal at the National Lottery Regulatory Commission in Abuja, for 6 years.

https://www.tori.ng/news/297509/nigerian-attorney-extradited-to-us-for-multimillio.html

Comrade is speechless

Aza wire wire men everywhere

lets not make this about tribe as we start name calling now... us for your affordable solar installations anywhere in nigeria

Good.
When will the govt extradite Allen Oyenma?
The Buhari govt and now rhe Tinubu govt keep protecting the guy.
Imagine if Dangote is wanted by the FBI, a certain section of the country will remind us on daily basis but now, it's very quiet on Oyenma.

This guy is not reppin well

Crooked attorney! Fraudster brother wanting to cash out where he didn't reap. US does not joke with crime of this kind. They will surely fry your ass.

Zeh

Not again . Our leaders are busy destroying our image, likewise some fraudulent citizens. I think we need to change our name from Nigeria to something else. Or we break up. Once you mention Nigeria's name outside, 4 things easily come to the mind of foreigners

1- terrorism
2- corruption
3- fraud and,
4- drug trafficking

lol

Everyday for the thief.

O boy, this strong extradition and exchanges ties with the US government means you are not out of reach! That’s good news!

Hmmmm

I'm not ing crime ooh.

But once I saw the headline, I knew he must be an Igbo.

When will Nigeria extradite Abba Kyari?

When will they list the names of those sponsoring Boko haram and freeze their number just like they did to IPOB?

Okay ooh.

What's money without peace to enjoy it?

Dammnnn

See casting. But las las, na to remit small change give those oyinbo, serve small jail time, and come flex the remaining money when they release am.

$8 million plenty of chai

Barawo banza

Oh no! Not again. Everyday, its always one crime to another

South west bearing Igbo name again

Nigeria is just a mess

70years old Man..Na this them dey call "agba yahoo"

Lahoooo
Lahooooo

See ass money longggg !!!
8.5mil dolls, abobi, weytin U still dey civilization d do, U no go zanziber, or some remote village d waya baneys weytin no good

USA doesn't take shit, unlike Nigeria that the shit even comes from those at the top

That ethics committee senator and other senators should also be sent to America
Including tinubu chief of staff
For their scams in the US

Kenneth4u205:
South west bearing Igbo name again

Leave them. Dem don cast. See that Ilesha boy Peter Oluwole Obisesan too claiming to be Peter Obi and fooling Igbos for decades. Na Tinubu's boy

Idan gan gan..

This one don hit HELOC..

DO THE CRIME AND DO THE TIME..

An Okechukwu

Nothing to see here

Everyday for the thief... One day for the owner!

Exactly so... Now he faces trials.