The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a Nigerian man, Ebuka Iwuagwu, who lives in Atlanta, for allegedly defrauding the U.S. government and multiple individuals in a large-scale scam involving COVID-19 relief funds and romance fraud.
According to court documents obtained by Peoples Gazette, Mr. Iwuagwu, 39, was indicted on April 2 at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
He faces eight counts of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was arrested on Monday after FBI agents connected him to four complaints related to romance scams that occurred between March and May 2020.
One victim from Strongsville, Ohio, sent Mr. Iwuagwu $37,500. Another, living in California, transferred $20,800 to a company account called Woodslayer Companies LLC, where he was the sole signatory. Two other victims sent $21,565 and $65,500 to an account registered under a fake name, which the FBI linked to Mr. Iwuagwu.
He is also accused of conspiring with others to carry out the scams while trying to avoid detection by U.S. authorities. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Mr. Iwuagwu reportedly used fake employee identities to collect approximately $52,000 in unemployment relief funds from the Washington State Employment Security Department, violating federal law.
Court documents revealed that he withdrew and moved the funds in a way that hid the connection to fraud. Between April 3 and April 8, 2020, he allegedly transferred $18,000 of the relief money to his personal account.
Although he was initially arrested by local police in January 2024, his suspected involvement in defrauding the U.S. government made him a target of the FBI, which is now working to recover the stolen funds.
Public records also show that his wife filed for divorce in early 2022, with the marriage officially ending in August that year. It is unclear if his criminal activities influenced the divorce.
Mr. Iwuagwu joins a growing list of Nigerians facing fraud-related charges in the U.S. Recently, the FBI also arrested Mercy Ojedeji, a 24-year-old former PhD student, for forging academic transcripts and committing wire fraud.
Additionally, the U.S. Secret Service seized $1.5 million from the Binance wallet of Avwerosuo Omokri, another Nigerian fraud suspect. In a separate case, a Yoruba monarch, Oba Joseph Oloyede, who went missing in March 2024, was found in FBI custody over a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fund fraud.
In December 2024, The Gazette also reported that Omobolanle Bombata, known as “Bobo Chicago,” was facing prosecution for hacking company emails to steal millions of dollars.
