Nigerian Scammer Sentenced for $868,000 Romance Scheme in NM

ALBUQUERQUE – In a stunning reversal of fortune for Uchenna Nlemchi, a Nigerian national has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for his role in a sophisticated romance and business email compromise scheme that defrauded victims out of over $1 million.

According to court documents, the scam began in July 2015 when Nlemchi, using the alias ‘Sean Bartlett,’ duped a 56-year-old widow into believing he was an oil engineer and promised marriage. He convinced her to send him money for business expenses, which she did, totaling over $375,000.

In September 2015, Nlemchi opened fraudulent bank accounts under the name ‘Jay Auto & Machine Parts,’ funneling the stolen funds into these accounts. By December, he had moved nearly half a million dollars through these channels.

The scheme expanded when a German victim was tricked into wiring money intended for a Miami condo purchase to the New Mexico widow’s account after her attorney’s email was hacked. Nlemchi then instructed the widow to transfer over $200,000 to his accounts.

By February 2016, Nlemchi had withdrawn and transferred nearly $868,000 globally. He abandoned the accounts when bank investigators closed in on him. Meanwhile, Nlemchi, who was in the U.S. on a student visa at Texas Southern University, escaped from his monitoring system and fled to Mexico, Brazil, and finally back to Nigeria.

Arrested in Hungary in 2023 after five years as an international fugitive, Nlemchi pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in February 2024. Upon completing his sentence, he will serve three years of supervised release and face deportation proceedings.

The Albuquerque Division of the FBI, with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department, investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Peña prosecuted the case, and U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced the sentencing today.