He owned a hip hop record label and he lived the high life of
luxury hotels, gambling, strippers and bling. But behind the glitz and
the glamour Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara was one of the FBI’s most wanted
men, allegedly a fraudster who scammed at least $44 million through
cyber crimes.
But
the sophisticated con artist, who fled Florida in August 2008 amid an
intense FBI investigation, has been caught in Sydney and sent back to
the US to face a string of fraud charges.
Nigerian-born
Tobechi Onwuhara, 33, was “provisionally arrested in response to a
request from the United
States Government” in December last year,
according to a spokeswoman for the Australian Attorney-General’s
department.
A spokeswoman for the AG’s department
said Mr Onwuhara is to face prosecution in the US for fraud related
offences, including identity fraud and computer fraud.
“On January 29, the Minister for Justice [Jason Clare] made a determination to surrender Mr Onwuhara to the US.
“As a matter of long standing practice, the Australian government does not comment on operational matters,” she said.
Fairfax Media understands Mr Onwuhara had been living it up in Sydney after disappearing in August 2008.
The
FBI’s website now lists Mr Onwuhara as captured, but with scant detail
of the arrest. They were offering a $25,000 reward for information
leading to his arrest.
The source who tipped off
Fairfax said Mr Onwuhara had been making regular trips to The Star
casino as well as splashing cash at numerous popular nightclubs.
“He
would bet at the Star under a different name, he was a regular, then
one day he just disappeared and someone told us he his wanted by the
FBI,” a source said.
A spokeswoman for Echo
entertainment, owner of The Star, did not return calls and emails. The
US Consulate in Sydney also did not return calls.
An Australian Federal Police spokesman confirmed the AFP arrested Mr Onwuhara.
According
to the FBI’s most wanted list. Mr Onwuhara is wanted for his alleged
involvement in an elaborate scheme that defrauded the financial industry
out of tens of millions of dollars.
“Onwuhara is a
key member of a group of Nigerians who allegedly have been conducting
fraudulent banking activities from Florida and Texas, since 2005,” the
FBI’s most wanted website states.
“It is alleged that the group has been using online internet databases to steal victims’ identities.
“Once
acquired, they allegedly use the victims’ information to gain access to
the victims’ ‘Home Equity Line of Credit’ accounts and wire transfer
the money to accounts mainly located overseas, some in the United
States.”
Some of Onwuhara’s alleged co-conspirators
have been arrested, inside and outside of the United States, the FBI’s
website states.
Onwuhara was charged federally with
conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and a federal warrant was issued for
his arrest by the US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, on
August 1, 2008.
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