A Nigerian, Mercy Ojedeji, has been sentenced to 41 months in a U.S. prison after he was found guilty of using forged academic documents to obtain a PhD admission and student visa, which he later used to support a fraud scheme.
According to the Department of Justice, Ojedeji abandoned his studies upon arriving in the U.S. and joined an American accomplice, Shirley Waller, in receiving over 193 packages and rerouting more than $1 million linked to Nigerian scammers. Prosecutors said he used a fraudulently obtained Missouri driver’s license and social security number to open accounts and rent an apartment, while his actions led to a tuition waiver of over $49,000 based on counterfeit documents. He pleaded guilty to unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents and wire fraud, and Judge Henry Autrey delivered the sentence, with Ojedeji also facing possible deportation after serving his term. A scam victim wrote to the court saying, “It is a terrible shame there are such people existing to steal money from innocent victims such as myself.”