Ivie Shevon Sajere, Social Security Benefit and FEMA Disaster Relief Scheme, Georgia 2024

A Nigerian woman has been sentenced to prison for her role in a massive fraud scheme that targeted the Social Security Administration and FEMA, resulting in the theft of nearly $1 million.

Ivie Shevon Sajere, 38, of Suwanee, Georgia, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., on [undisclosed date]. She was also ordered to pay $949,616.40 in restitution to SSA and FEMA.

The scheme, which began in June 2017 and continued until September 2018, involved the false filing of thousands of online applications for SSA retirement benefits and FEMA disaster benefits using stolen personal information. The victims included a movie director, an award-winning journalist, the daughter of a legendary movie director, and a highly esteemed academic.

The scam involved unknown fraudsters filing applications for Social Security retirement benefits and FEMA disaster relief benefits using stolen personal information. Once an application was approved, the fraudsters directed that the funds be deposited onto a Green Dot debit card opened using other stolen personal information. As soon as the money hit the Green Dot debit card, the defendant generated payments through Square, Stripe, and PayPal to Nevada Bridge TV, a Nigerian streaming service/television production company owned by the defendant’s husband; BAGMA, an African gospel award show business owned by the defendant’s husband; and Shevonz, a clothing store owned by the defendant.

The charges and other information presented in court revealed that the defendant and her husband, Neville Sajere, both Nigerian nationals who engaged in marriage fraud in an unsuccessful attempt to become U.S. citizens, participated in a money laundering scheme that defrauded nearly a million dollars from SSA and FEMA.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia praised the comprehensive investigation led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, and Homeland Security Investigations, among other law enforcement agencies, for their critical role in the case.

The defendant’s prison sentence serves as a cautionary tale to other fraudsters, and the SSA and FEMA have continued to uphold the integrity of their online services and programs that so many Americans rely on.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/nigerian-woman-sentenced-scamming-social-security-administration-and-fema-out-nearly