Invictus Obi released after 5 years in prison for $11 million fraud

Nigerian businessman Invictus Obi has been released from a US prison and faces deportation after serving five years for fraud. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has released Nigerian serial fraudster and businessman Invictus Obi Okeke, who served six years in prison for defrauding U.S. businesses of $11 million between 2015 and 2019.

Mr. Okeke, who was arrested in 2019, was no longer in custody as of Wednesday and arrangements were being made for his deportation to Nigeria under the terms of a plea agreement.

FBI agents arrested Mr. Okeke in August 2019 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, where he had booked a flight back to Nigeria.

He was tried in February 2021 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was released on Wednesday, seemingly benefiting from the first prison reform policies President Donald Trump signed into law during his first term.

This reform shortened the sentences of offenders based on compliance with certain long-standing rules of conduct. The fraudster is believed to have qualified for the policy.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud. Okeke stole login credentials for Unatrac Holding Limited, a company that exports Caterpillar industrial machinery, and intercepted emails to divert payments. He pocketed suspiciously approximately $11 million.

An FBI investigation revealed that Ocock orchestrated a computer hacking scheme that compromised emails to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting victims.

“Through subterfuge and impersonation, Obinwanne Okeke engaged in a years-long global business email and computer hacking scheme that caused a staggering $11 million in losses to victims,” ​​Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Raj Parekh said in a 2021 statement.

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court issued an order temporarily seizing more than N280 million in Mr Okeke’s Nigerian bank accounts.

Mr Okeke, 38, was named one of Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs in Forbes Under 30 in 2016 before his criminal behavior came to light.

Mr. Okeke, described by Forbes as the founder of the Invictus Group from humble beginnings, said his company was “named after a poem by William Ernest Henley, one of Nelson Mandela’s favorite poems, which describes the undefeated, unconquerable soul of a hard worker who grew up in poverty and never gave up.”

Forbes praised Mr. Okeke’s investments in construction, agriculture, oil and gas, telecommunications and real estate.