The security agency said the 29-year-old suspect perpetrated the fraud from Nigeria, with the help of co-conspirators in Canada and elsewhere.
As contained in a statement by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, US Attorney, Jacqueline Romero said Obasi has been charged with one count conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, six count of mail fraud, and 16 counts of wire fraud.
How it started: According to the FBI, Obasi is wanted for operating a multi-faceted scheme that led to illegal attainment of over $31 million, with the largest chunk of the proceeds coming from the State of New York for the intended purchase of ventilators.
The suspect, alongside his co-conspirators, initiated the scheme around 2018 by launching a spam email campaign that offered illegitimate “work from home” jobs to the unsuspecting public.
“A co-conspirator in Canada then sent the new “employee” counterfeit checks purportedly from customers of the company, and the new “employee” deposited the checks, took a commission, and wired the rest of the money to a foreign bank account ostensibly owned by the fake company. As alleged in the Indictment, Obasi and his co-conspirators obtained more than $1 million in this manner," the FBI explained in a statement.
The biggest scheme: The FBI alleged that Obasi pulled off an even expansive scheme around 2020 when he defrauded the New York State of $30 million by posing as a ventilator seller during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The indictment read that the suspect, posing as a representative of an Indonesian-based medical supply company, offered ventilators for sale and claimed to have a large stockpile of ventilators manufactured by a German company whose headquarters was in Telford,