A Nigerian woman, Gloria Okolie, was on Wednesday convicted by a federal jury in US District Court, Georgia for conspiring to commit money laundering.
Okolie was part of 34 Nigerians arrested in June 2018 for allegedly defrauding businesses and US citizens of several millions of dollars.
The 39-year-old was found guilty of conspiracy to lauder nearly $250,000, proceeds from the sale of a Columbia County home.
FBI agent Robert Stewart testified in court on Tuesday as the prosecution’s last witness, saying that many cases are dead ends because they originate in Nigeria and other countries.
An email opened in Nigeria was used by a hacker to send an email to a US lawyer on August 10, 2015 claiming to be the seller of a West Lake home.
The imposter convinced the attorney to send $246,219 to a Dallas bank account that Okolie opened a month earlier.
Okolie admitted on Tuesday that she opened the bank account and a second one in July 2015.
She said she transferred the money to various locations on the instruction of her lover, Kenny, whom she claimed deals in selling vehicles to customers in Nigeria.
Okolie said she did not know it was all a fraud until she was arrested.
Assistant US Attorney Hank Syms told the court that Okolie was paid more than $18,000 in one month for moving the money.
Okolie’s co-defendant, Paul Aisosa, testified that he committed money laundering several times, and had cheated people of over $550,000.
Stewart, however, said that police had tracked the mystery man named Kenny to a man called Akena who is held by immigration for deportation in November.
