Nigerian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Fraud Targeting Plattsburgh Business
A Nigerian man has admitted to orchestrating a fraud scheme that resulted in a Plattsburgh-based company wiring more than $158,000 to overseas accounts under false pretenses.
Lotenna Chisom Umeadi, 35, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York. Authorities say Umeadi acquired a webpage from a hacker that enabled him to steal email passwords. Using these credentials, he accessed email accounts belonging to employees of a produce exporter in Sri Lanka.
Prosecutors allege that Umeadi used the compromised accounts to send fraudulent emails impersonating the Sri Lankan company, instructing a Plattsburgh produce importer to redirect payments to bank accounts in the United Kingdom under his control. The scheme led to two wire transfers in 2016, totaling $158,400.
Umeadi was arrested in Germany on September 1, 2024, after traveling there from Nigeria. He was later extradited to the United States to face charges.
He is scheduled for sentencing on July 21, 2025, and could face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release. Authorities have indicated he will be subject to removal from the United States following the completion of his sentence.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer is prosecuting the case.