Ejiroghene Okuma, a U.S.-based financial adviser, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for scamming a senior citizen of over $9 million dollars which he blew to purchase a $1.4 million beach club membership and $5 million luxury apartment in Georgia among other expenses.

Mr Okuma, 44, was the administrator for the estate of Victim 1’s sister (The victim’s name was redacted to protect their privacy). He was sentenced on September 11 with an additional three years supervised release after his conviction and guilty plea to wire fraud.

In March 2022, Mr Okuma took advantage of the elder citizen and requested that $500,000 be transferred from the brokerage account of the victim’s sister to another account “purportedly held for the estate,” prosecutors said. 

After the victim approved the request, Mr Okuma then ransferred the funds to his wife’s company account. Between February 2022 and January 2023, he stole $1 million from the elderly citizen.

“In February 2023, Okuma opened an unauthorised brokerage account in the name of a revocable trust involving Victim-1,” prosecutors said. 

That same day, Mr Okuma opened an account in his name and made himself the custodian to the victim’s bank account. 

The custodianship gave him unfettered access to the victim’s bank account, allowing him to withdraw at will without supervision.

He drained the elderly citizen’s account within days, wiring $9 million to his account. He moved the funds to his other accounts to niy a $5.2 million residence in Vinings, Georgia, $1.4 million beach club membership, and $340,000 contribution to his church.

Special Agent in charge of FBI Atlanta said the Bureau will “aggressively pursue financial predators” who scam vulnerable citizens.

“Okuma betrayed the trust of an elderly client and exploited his position as a financial adviser to steal nearly $10 million for his own personal benefit,” said Mr Graham. “He used his access and authority to systematically drain his victim’s accounts while funneling the stolen money into lavish purchases and other personal expenses. The FBI will aggressively pursue financial predators who exploit their positions of trust and prey on vulnerable victims.”