A Nigerian fraudster, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, received more than eight years in prison in the United States for his role in a transnational fraud operation that earned him millions of dollars in illegal proceeds.

According to court documents, for several years, Mr Ogbata tricked his victims, mostly adults or otherwise vulnerable, into parting with their money by sending them false personalised letters, claiming he was a representative of a bank in Spain.

The 36-year-old would then follow up by lying to the victims that they were entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for them by a family member who had died overseas years before but must pay certain fees to be able to receive the fake inheritance.

To claim the purported inheritance, the unsuspecting individuals would go ahead to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and other payments to bank accounts controlled by Mr Ogbata’s associates and the first batch of victims whom the defendant had gained their trust.

During his years-long operation, Mr Ogbata admitted to defrauding more than 400 Americans and stealing over $6 million in the process before he was eventually caught by the American enforcement agencies alongside European authorities.

“This case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime. I want to thank our U.S. law enforcement partners, as well as those who assisted across the globe, including the Portuguese Judicial Police and Public Prosecution Service of Portugal, for their outstanding contributions to this case,” acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a statement on Monday.

He added, “The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will continue to pursue, prosecute, and bring to justice transnational criminals responsible for defrauding U.S. consumers, wherever they are located.”