A 35-year-old Nigerian man, Lotenna Chisom Umeadi, has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud after being extradited from Germany to the United States. Umeadi admitted to purchasing a webpage from a computer hacker, which allowed him to illegally access email passwords. Using these credentials, he infiltrated email accounts belonging to employees of a produce exporter in Sri Lanka.
Umeadi then sent fraudulent emails, impersonating the Sri Lankan company, and directed a produce importer in Plattsburgh, New York, to wire payments totaling $158,400 to bank accounts in the United Kingdom that he controlled. The fraudulent transactions occurred in 2016.
Umeadi was arrested by German authorities on September 1, 2024, upon his arrival from Nigeria and was subsequently extradited to the U.S. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. His sentencing is scheduled for July 21, 2025.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs. After serving his prison term, Umeadi will be removed from the United States.
