Eunice Nkongho, Money Laundering, Maryland 2021

Greenbelt, Maryland – Federal prosecutors announced that Eunice Nkongho, 40, of California, was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering after a seven-day trial in federal court in Maryland.

Nkongho, who was convicted on October 15, 2021, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for her crimes. U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for February 17, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.

According to federal prosecutors, Nkongho was part of a sophisticated scheme to fraudulently obtain goods using what appeared to be a military email address, but was actually a registered Yahoo email address. The scheme involved a co-conspirator posing as a U.S. government contracting agent and obtaining merchandise, including large-screen televisions, specialized communications equipment, iPhones, and iPads, from victim companies in Washington State, Virginia, and Maryland.

Prosecutors alleged that Nkongho laundered money obtained from the sale of the fraudulently obtained Apple products through a series of complex transactions involving at least five bank accounts. She also wired some of the money to a co-conspirator in Nigeria in a way that would avoid transaction reporting requirements.

Of the nine defendants charged in the case, Nkongho has now been convicted after trial and seven others have pleaded guilty to their roles in the fraud scheme. One defendant, Peter Unakalu, Nkongho's husband, is a fugitive.

Prosecutors praised the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement for their work in the investigation, and thanked the FBI Washington Field Office and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for their assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Adam K. Ake are prosecuting the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/money-launderer-international-fraud-scheme-convicted-after-seven-day-trial