A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian man, Leslie Mba, to 19 years imprisonment over an attempt to illegally obtain residency through fraudulent marriages.
Mba was involved in a romance scam and business email scheme defrauding American women of over $4m.
Diaspora Tales gathered this in a statement by the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas, on Thursday.
The 40-year-old resident of Houston was ordered to federal prison for his role after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit false statements in immigration documents on December 4, 2025.
US District Judge David Hittner ordered Mba to serve 228 months in federal prison.
Hittner also ruled that the Nigerian be deported to his country after his imprisonment.
“These online scams Mba and his friends perpetrated jeopardised the livelihood of family-run businesses, the ability of elderly individuals to retire, and exploited the trust that fuels our economy.
“Even worse, Mba and his confederates committed these crimes while attempting to remain in our country under false pretenses by deceiving immigration authorities. Now, Mba has a prison to look forward to, followed by a one-way ticket back to Nigeria.
“Romance scams cruelly manipulate trust, callously exploit the fear of loneliness, and leave victims both financially devastated and emotionally shattered. The FBI will continue to combat fraudsters whose schemes leave a wake of misery behind,” said a US Attorney for the District of Houston, Nicholas Ganjei.
From April 2018 to December 2023, Mba and others inside and outside of the United States carried out business email compromise and romance scams targeting unsuspecting victims.
The schemes began overseas, where co-conspirators gained unauthorised access to business email accounts and redirected payments to fraudulent bank accounts.
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