A 40-year-old Nigerian, Leslie Chinedu Mba, has received a nearly 20-year prison sentence in the United States following his conviction for a romance scam and a business email compromise scheme.
This sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei in a statement released by the Department of Justice on February 26, 2026.
On December 4, 2025, Mba entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and providing false statements in immigration documents.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner has mandated that Mba serve 228 months in federal custody.
As a non-U.S. citizen, he is likely to face deportation proceedings once his prison term concludes.
At the hearing, it was revealed that victims lost over $4 million as a result of the fraudulent activities.
FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson expressed concern over how Mba's group specifically used romance scams to target vulnerable elderly individuals.
“Romance scams manipulate trust, exploit loneliness, and leave victims financially and emotionally devastated. The FBI remains committed to tackling those whose schemes cause such harm,” Hudson remarked.
From April 2018 through December 2023, Mba and his associates in various locations engaged in both romance scams and business email fraud, preying on unsuspecting victims.
These fraudulent schemes often originated overseas, where co-conspirators accessed business email accounts unlawfully and redirected legitimate payments to their own bogus accounts.
Victims were misled into believing they were sending funds to authentic businesses, while in fact, Mba and his accomplices diverted these payments to accounts under their control.
Mba, along with his cohorts, utilized either new or existing bank accounts to receive and transfer the proceeds of their fraudulent activities.
In addition, Mba attempted to secure U.S. permanent residency through several fraudulent marriages after his initial residency application was declined, resulting in his order of removal from the U.S.
Overall, the scams orchestrated by Mba and his associates led to total losses amounting to $4 million.
Four co-conspirators—Grace Morisho, 30, Rodgers Kadikilo, 30, Kristin Smith, 38, and Alexandra Golovko, 36—had already pleaded guilty to related charges. Morisho, Kadikilo, and Smith received sentences ranging from 15 to 25 months, while Golovko was sentenced to five years of probation.
Mba will continue to be in detention pending his transfer to a designated Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI with assistance from the Houston Police Department, and the prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Alum.
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