40-YEAR PRISON RISK: Extradited Nigerian faces heavy sentence in US over romance scam

A Nigerian national, Samuel Ugberaese, faces up to 40 years in federal prison after being extradited to the United States on charges of orchestrating a multi-million dollar cross-border romance fraud and money laundering scheme.

A Nigerian national, Samuel Ugberaese, faces a statutory maximum penalty of 40 years in a United States federal prison after being successfully extradited from Nigeria to face charges relating to a massive cross-border romance scam network. Following his transfer, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Ugberaese, who has since appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Brian S. Myers in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The federal jurist ordered the defendant to be detained without bail pending his trial, marking a significant milestone in a transnational counter-fraud operation that originally began with a grand jury indictment returned in January 2021.

According to official documents released by the US Department of Justice, Ugberaese—also known in cyber-crime networks as “Putsammy”—and his co-conspirators systematically targeted vulnerable individuals across the United States. The prosecution alleges that the syndicate weaponized online dating applications and internet communication channels to build fraudulent romantic bonds with their victims before manipulating them into sending funds. “The indictment further alleges that Ugberaese conspired with a co-defendant, Oluwadamilare Kolaogunbule, a naturalized U.S. citizen, to conduct financial transactions through his bank account network, including accounts registered to purported export companies, to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the criminal proceeds,” the formal statement reads.

The illicit network relied heavily on Kolaogunbule to open and maintain dozens of domestic “drop accounts” under the guise of legitimate Georgia-based commercial export companies, allowing the syndicate to move at least $2.3 million in stolen funds while evading standard banking red flags. Ugberaese stands charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. US law enforcement authorities extended deep gratitude to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Office of Nigeria, alongside the Nigeria Police Force’s INTERPOL unit, for providing critical international assistance in tracking down, securing, and executing the high-profile extradition request.

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