Five Nigerian fraudsters operating at an international level have been sentenced to 1,549 months in prison for a multimillion-dollar heist that involved at least 100 victims in the United States.

A U.S. federal court in Texas handed the notorious gang of Nigerian scammers a combined 129 years for executing a transnational romance and wire fraud scheme that netted them over $17 million.

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant sentenced the quintet of Damilola Kumapayi, Sandra Iribhogbe, Edgal Iribhogbe, Chidindu Okeke, and Chiagoziem Okeke on Monday after they pleaded guilty to multiple wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft charges. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Texas, the convicted fraudsters were part of a transnational syndicate that deployed several fraudulent schemes, including online romance scams, business email compromise scams, and investor fraud, as well as unemployment insurance fraud, to steal from unsuspecting entities and individuals, who are mostly elderly.

U.S. officials said the “well-coordinated” scheme specifically targeted elderly persons and used various schemes such as online dating sites to lure their victims

“Transnational organised criminals targeting the hard-earned savings of elderly and vulnerable populations are simply despicable,” acting U.S. attorney Jay Combs for the Eastern District of Texas said. “The long arm of the American justice system has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation’s most vulnerable populations.”

Investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies discovered that the gang, which began operations around January 2017, defrauded at least 100 individual victims, companies, and government entities from across the world, prosecutors said in court filings.

The Nigerian crooks were successful in stealing over $17 million, which they laundered through a network of various bank accounts and sent money to bank accounts, co-conspirators and businesses located in Africa and Asia.

“The defendants were part of a transnational organised crime syndicate that defrauded victims collectively out of millions of dollars. For some individuals, this was their life savings, and they were unable to financially recover,” FBI Dallas special agent in charge Joseph Rothrock said.

He added, “We hope these sentences give them a sense of comfort and send a clear message that the FBI is committed to pursuing justice for victims.”

Following their arrest, the five defendants pleaded guilty to all charges against them. In his judgment, the judge sentenced the trio of Chidindu, Chiagoziem, and Iribhogbe to 40 years in prison each. 

Meanwhile, Ms Iribhogbe received a prison term of more than 30 years, while Mr Kumapayi was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.