Grimy Times has learned that Victor Ahaiwe, a notorious money launderer, was sentenced to 84 months in prison for participating in a multi-million-dollar conspiracy to launder the proceeds of business email compromise frauds targeting businesses and non-profit organizations and romance frauds targeting individual victims in New York.
The U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the sentencing, stating that the defendants in this case were part of a wide-reaching conspiracy to launder over $10 million stolen from businesses and individuals. Williams added that the sentences imposed on the ten defendants send a message: that this type of activity will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.
According to court filings and statements made in court proceedings, Victor Ahaiwe and his coconspirators conspired to launder the proceeds of numerous business email compromise schemes and romance schemes, in which corporate, organizational, and individual victims were fraudulently induced to send over $10 million to bank accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy.
Victor Ahaiwe participated in the scheme by stealing the identity of a recently deceased friend and using that identity to open and operate bank accounts to launder a portion of the proceeds from a $500,000 business email compromise fraud against a foreign public agency that provides health insurance and pension benefits.
Victor Ahaiwe was convicted by a jury in June 2021 of bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and aggravated identity theft in a trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote.
The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $514,063, as recompense to the victims affected, and to pay forfeiture in the amount of $590,123, reflecting criminal proceeds that he received in connection with his money laundering and identity theft.
This is the tenth defendant to be sentenced for participating in the money laundering conspiracy. The nine previously sentenced defendants, each of whom pleaded guilty, received the following sentences: PRINCE UKO (46, Jonesboro, GA) – 41 months (prison); SUNDAY OKORO (41, Jonesboro, GA) – 41 months (prison); IKECHUKWU ELENDU (41, San Leandro, CA) – 41 months (prison); ARINZE OBIKA (33, Queens, NY) – 33 months (prison); BRITT JACKSON (43, Columbus, GA) – 33 months (prison); HERMAN BASS (37, Hawthorne, CA) – 30 months (prison); JACOB SAGIAO (47, Oxnard, CA) – 30 months (prison); MARYLYNN PENEUETA (46, Oxnard, CA) – 12 months (prison); and JOSHUA FITTEN (25, Hacienda Heights, CA) – 5 years (probation).
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Money Laundering|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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