Two collegiate Nigerian athletes, Toluwani Adebakin, 25, and Emmanuel Ineh, 23, were found guilty of sending thousands of dollars to their home country as part of a sophisticated fraud plan by a federal court in Hattiesburg, Mississippi State.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew W. Eichner handled the prosecution of the case while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation.
This information was provided in a statement released on Thursday by US Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the FBI’s Jackson Field Office, which was posted on the US Department of Justice website.
According to court documents, the Nigerian athletes, Ineh and Adebakin pleaded guilty to violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957, for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities, collectively sending tens of thousands of illicitly obtained proceeds to fraudsters in Nigeria as part of a larger mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
The scheme involved track-and-field athletes from multiple higher learning institutions in the United States, with part of the conspiracy being operated out of Hattiesburg, while Ineh and Adebakin were track-and-field teammates at William Carey University.
William Carey University was reportedly cooperative throughout the investigation.
Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on February 15, 2023 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.