[ 2011-08-13 ]

Nigeria extradites $32 million scam suspect to
LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria has extradited a suspect to
the United States over a complex, multi-nation
scam targeting dozens of law firms and blamed for
the theft of some $32 million, authorities here
announced Friday.

"The extradition process filed through the office
of the attorney general and minister of justice
was eventually approved by a federal high court in
Lagos on July 26th, 2011," Nigeria's anti-graft
agency said in a statement.

The suspect, Emmanuel Ekhator, who is Nigerian,
was flown to the United States on Wednesday and
handed over to a court in the US state of
Pennsylvania on Thursday, it said.

He was indicted in the United States in November
2010 over the scam, according to the agency.

According to a spokesman for Nigeria's anti-graft
agency, Ekhator was accused of running a complex
scam that saw victims who were in fact part of the
gang contact law firms in the United States.

The supposed victims asked for the law firms' help
in collecting money supposedly owed to them from a
fake organisation, spokesman Femi Babafemi said.

The fake organisation would then pretend to pay
the money to the law firms with false bank
information.

Firms believing the money had been paid based on
an elaborate counterfeit operation would then make
payments to the "victims," usually with Asian bank
accounts, only to find out later that the original
check was fraudulent, said Babafemi.

Some 80 law firms were hit in the scam, he said.

According to Babafemi, Ekhator had operated from
various countries in Africa as well as in Europe
and had a permanent residence in Canada. He was
arrested in Nigeria last year.

Source - AFP

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