Newton Ofioritse Jemide, a Nigeria-born man based in France, has been sentenced to three years and five months in prison by a U.S. District Court for his role in an $8 million disaster fraud scheme.
Judge Deborah K. Chasanow handed down the sentence on Tuesday.
Jemide, 47, was extradited from France to the United States after being found guilty of fraudulently obtaining federal grants intended for vulnerable U.S. citizens affected by wildfires between 2016 and 2017.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Jemide and his co-conspirators stole the identities of U.S. citizens to open Green Dot debit card accounts, which were then used to illegally request federal disaster benefits.
The DoJ explained, “Co-conspirators living in Nigeria then registered the cards with Green Dot using stolen personal information from identity theft victims around the United States.”
“FEMA and other federal agencies deposited benefits onto the Green Dot debit cards as a result of fraudulent submissions,” the statement added.
“Jemide and select co-conspirators informed other co-conspirators when the fraudulent funds became available on the debit cards and gave them information to cash out the funds from the cards in exchange for a commission.”
To avoid detection, Jemide and his associates concealed their identities by having others make purchases and withdrawals, using multiple store and bank locations, and issuing money orders payable to various individuals or corporate entities.
The DoJ further disclosed, “FEMA dispersed $500 per claim on the Green Dot debit cards that the co-conspirators purchased for a total of at least $8 million.”
Following his guilty plea, Jemide was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $520,431 in restitution and to forfeit $311,036 to the U.S. government.
“US District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Newton Ofioritse Jemide, 47, a Nigerian national extradited from France, to 41 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain federal benefits,” the DoJ statement concluded.
