A Nigerian man, Dennis Tamarakuro, has been convicted for defrauding a U.S.-based non-governmental organisation, Pregnancy Support Network, of $71,795.41 in a cybercrime scheme.

He was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and sentenced by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, after pleading guilty to a one-count charge of cybercrime.

According to the charge, Tamarakuro posed as Keisha Reynolds, a U.S.-based private investor, in December 2024 and tricked one Philbert into transferring $71,795.41 via the cryptocurrency platform Bybit.

EFCC investigator, Ogunjobi Olalekan, explained that U.S. authorities discovered the NGO’s funds had been diverted through a romance scam turned money mule operation. The stolen money moved through intermediaries, including a suspect named Libson Junior, before being converted into cryptocurrency and traced to Tamarakuro’s Bybit wallet.

Upon arrest, Tamarakuro confessed in the presence of his lawyer and admitted receiving 0.27 Bitcoin twice from Libson Junior. He later withdrew about $18,000 through the crypto exchange Busha.

The EFCC was able to recover over $42,000—with $22,157.40 retrieved from Bybit and $20,121.41 from Busha—while the remaining funds were blocked by a U.S. bank.

Justice Nwite sentenced Tamarakuro to one year in prison with an option of a ₦1 million fine, ordered that the recovered funds be returned to the victims, and directed the convict to swear an affidavit of good conduct.

His lawyer, Laye Aeemokoya, pleaded for leniency, stressing that Tamarakuro was a first-time offender, a father, and caregiver to his aged mother.

The EFCC says the case underscores its renewed crackdown on internet fraud and Ponzi schemes. In recent months, the Commission also arrested Ahamba Tochukwu, CEO of Gavice Logistics, for allegedly defrauding over 400 investors of ₦2 billion, and arraigned Precious Williams, linked to a ₦13.8 billion Ponzi scheme involving fugitive Maxwell Chizi Odum of MBA Trading.