A 40-year-old Nigerian, Daniel Chima Inweregbu, has pleaded guilty in the United States (US) to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as money laundering, in connection with a romance scam that defrauded American women of more than $405,000.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
Acting U.S. Attorney, Michael M. Simpson, said Inweregbu entered the plea on 21 August 2025, before Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown.
According to court documents, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators ran the scheme between July 2017 and December 2018, using a fake online persona named ‘Larry Pham’ to lure victims on dating sites and social media targeting US citizens.
The statement explained that the group ‘devised and operated a romance scam whereby they sought to obtain money and property from multiple American women, including four victims, by means of false and fraudulent representations and promises’.
Once they gained the trust of their targets, the conspirators convinced them to transfer funds into domestic bank accounts they controlled.
Authorities said the proceeds were later laundered through intermediaries to disguise their origin and ownership.
‘Inweregbu’s scheme resulted in actual and intended losses of over $405,000 to the victims.
‘Thereafter, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators laundered the funds, by conducting financial transactions using the proceeds of their wire and mail fraud scheme, designed in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds, by directing the victims’ funds through intermediaries’, the statement added.
For the fraud count, Inweregbu faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
On the money laundering count, he risks another 20 years, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000.
He also faces mandatory assessment fees.
Sentencing has been scheduled for 4 December 2025.
Simpson commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for leading the probe and acknowledged support from the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State.
