Nigerian Resident Sentenced to 33 Months Imprisonment for Participating in Years-Long Romance Scam Victimizing Multiple United States Citizens

NEW ORLEANS – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that DANIEL CHIMA INWEREGBU(“INWEREGBU”), age 40, a citizen of Lagos, Nigeria, was sentenced to 33 months imprisonment by United States District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and use of an assumed name to commit a mail fraud scheme, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1342, 1343 and 1349, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1957, and 1956(h). The charges stemmed from INWEREGBU’s role in a lengthy scheme targeting American citizens. INWEREGBU was arrested when he travelled from Nigeria to the United Kingdom and was extradited to the United States to face the charges pending against him in July 2025. Judge Brown also sentenced INWEREGBU to 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, payment of a $100 special assessment fee and payment of restitution of $166,400.

According to court documents, a “romance scam” was a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining their affection, and then using that goodwill to commit fraud. Fraudulent acts may involve obtaining access to a victim's money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; convincing the victims to transmit things of value to the perpetrator or his witting or unwitting co-conspirators; or inducing victims unintentionally to commit or participate in the commission of financial fraud against third parties on behalf of the perpetrator. Between at least July 1, 2017, and December 16, 2018, INWEREGBU and his co-conspirators devised and operated a “romance scam” whereby they sought to obtain money and property from multiple American women, including Victim 1, a female born in 1965, Victim 2, a female born in March 1974, Victim 3, a female born in 1970, and Victim 4, a female born in 1976, by means of false and fraudulent representations and promises. Specifically, INWEREGBU and his co-conspirators created profiles on social media and online dating sites using the alias “Larry Pham,” purportedly a middle-aged Canadian-born Vietnamese male, to attract female victims.

The co-conspirators, including INWEREGBU, used online messaging platforms and email, to contact victims, introduce themselves, and appeal to victims’ longing for companionship. If the target responded favorably, INWEREGBU and his co-conspirators began to cultivate a romantic relationship that emotionally attached the victims to “Larry Pham.” Once the relationship was established, the defendant and his co-conspirators, posing as Larry Pham, requested victims send them money under various scams and ruses to domestic bank accounts they opened and managed.

As explained in the Factual Basis, INWEREGBU’s scheme resulted in actual and intended losses to the four identified victims of over $405,000. Thereafter, INWEREGBU and his co-conspirators laundered the funds by conducting financial transactions using the proceeds of their wire and mail fraud scheme, designed in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds, by directing the funds through intermediaries.