New Mexico Man Sentenced in Scheme to Send Stolen Social Security Benefits to Nigeria
Adetokunbo Fakeye
A New Mexico man who obtained Social Security through stolen identities and wire same to Nigeria was sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Boston.
According to Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI reports obtained by NigerianEcho, Jasper Denetclaw, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to four months in prison, two years of supervised release, and also ordered to pay $104,625 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.
The report revealed, Denetclaw pleaded guilty to theft of public money in August 2015.
In early 2014, Denetclaw was said to have met a woman on Facebook who offered him the opportunity to earn some money.
The woman put him in touch with “Simon,” who was allegedly located in Nigeria and following instructions from “Simon,” Denetclaw opened two bank accounts and provided “Simon” with the information for those accounts, and for a third account he had previously opened.
After funds had been placed in the accounts, Denetclaw then withdrew or wired a portion of the $205,879 that had been deposited, as instructed by “Simon.”
The money in the accounts was from direct deposits of Social Security benefits, obtained illegally by filing applications for retirement benefits in the names of ten real people, including some Massachusetts residents.
Each victim, according to record had reached full retirement age, and, therefore, the fraudulent applications resulted in lump-sum benefits payments of approximately $20,000 each.
The government recovered about $100,000 when the fraud was detected; however, Denetclaw had succeeded in withdrawing the rest of the money, wiring over $67,000 to individuals in Nigeria, and keeping some of the money for himself.
The accused stated that, in the beginning, he thought it was a regular business, but, admitted that after he checked the accounts and realized the money was from the Social Security Administration, he knew it was wrong.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Scott Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division, made the announcement on Tuesday.
Assistance was provided by the Phoenix, Ariz. and El Paso, Texas field offices of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations and the Redding, Calif. and Gallup, N.M. field offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.