A Nigerian man has bagged 11 years and three months imprisonment (135 months) in the US after he was found guilty and convicted of fraud and money laundering.

According to reports, 34-year-old Kingsley Otuya was involved in romance scams. He was said to have made over $1 million from the fraud.

His activities was also said to have led to the death of one of his victims, who took her own life.

Otuya pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors say the conspiracy scammed American citizens out of over $1 million.

Otuya acted as a “catcher,” one of the individuals responsible for quickly withdrawing fraudulently obtained funds from bank accounts where the victims deposited their funds.

Using fake passports, the Nigerian opened accounts in nine different banks with false names. He structured his withdrawals to amounts under $10, 000 so as to avoid bank reporting requirements.

Otuya would then send the money to co-conspirators before the victim attempted to recover their funds.

Multiple victims faced serious financial hardship as a result of these scams, and one of the victims who sent money to Otuya took her own life after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars and being emotionally devastated by a romance scam.

“This case brutally illustrates how fraud schemes hurt victims not only financially but also emotionally,” said U.S. Attorney John F. Bash. 

“We will remain steadfast in our efforts to protect Americans from transnational criminal conspiracies.”

Otuya faces likely deportation back to Nigeria as a result of this conviction.