After $600,000 lost in romance scam, a Utah grand jury delivers a conviction
Mar 22, 2024, 8:48 PM
The Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — After perpetrating a years-long scam that cost victims over $600,000, Georgia native Clinton Uchendu, 26, was convicted by a grand jury in Salt Lake City, according to a statement released from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Utah.
Uchendu is charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, mail fraud, and unlicensed money transmitting business.
According to the statement, Uchendu’s involvement in the scam was as an account provider, or “picker,” who provided bank accounts for his codefendants in Nigeria to launder money through.
According to a filed indictment, Uchendu’s connection to Utah is that he “operated an unlicensed money transmitting business in the District of Utah,” with other defendants “known and unknown to the Grand Jury.”
The office also said that several victims in the trial testified to losing “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” and that evidence showed Uchendu “(receiving) money from dozens of people from around the United States,” and that the money was then deposited to accounts in Nigeria after retaining a portion for himself.
Uchendu is scheduled for sentencing on June 7 at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in Salt Lake City.
