By John Ikani
Chidozie Collins Obasi, a 29-year-old Nigerian, has been declared wanted and indicted in the United States after defrauding US hospitals of $31 million by offering non-existent COVID-19 ventilators for sale.
A statement on the website of the US Justice Department said aside from posing as ventilator seller, the suspect targeted Americans through a spam email campaign offering illegitimate “work from home” jobs
According to the statement, the 29-year-old Obasi perpetrated the fraud from Nigeria, with the help of co-conspirators in Canada and elsewhere.
It added that Obasi and his accomplices allegedly received more than $31,000,000 through a complicated fraud scheme, the majority coming from the State of New York.
What the US Justice Department is saying
“The scheme alleged in the Indictment began in September 2018, with a spam email campaign that offered phony “work from home” jobs. When a person responded to the phony job offer, Obasi or a co-conspirator posed as a representative of a legitimate company, often a supposed medical equipment supplier based outside the United States, and offered the person a job as the company’s U.S. representative with responsibilities including collecting on outstanding invoices.
“An accomplice in Canada then sent the new ’employee’ counterfeit checks purportedly from customers of the company, and the new ’employee’ deposited the checks, took a commission, and wired the rest of the money to a foreign bank account ostensibly owned by the fake company. Obasi and his co-conspirators obtained more than $1 million in this manner.
“In 2020, Obasi went further to pose as a ventilator salesman for an Indonesian medical supply company.
“In approximately March 2020, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and ventilators were in high demand, Obasi posed as a representative of an Indonesian-based medical supply company offering ventilators for sale, and claimed to have a large stockpile of ventilators manufactured by a German company.
“Obasi allegedly convinced a medical equipment broker in the U.S. to broker sales of these non-existent ventilators, and ultimately deceived the State of New York into wiring more than $30 million for the purchase of ventilators that did not exist.
“He continued to target other potential customers with this same scam, including hospitals.
“Later, in approximately June 2020, Obasi and his accomplices took advantage of the EID Loan programme by using stolen identities of U.S. citizens to apply for and obtain more than $135,000 in EID Loan proceeds”, the statement read.
“Obasi is presently a fugitive, and the United States is seeking to locate and arrest him. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts should contact their local FBI Office.
The statement went on to note that “If caught and convicted, Obasi faces a maximum sentence of 621 years in prison, a five-year period of supervised release, and a $5,750,000 fine. Obasi also will be required to make full restitution of the more than $31,000,000 that he obtained by fraud.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Lowe.
It is worthwhile to note that an Indictment, Information, or Criminal Complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
