Texas Man Sentenced in Federal Court in Louisiana for Illegally Obtaining Money from Pre-Paid Debit Cards

Louisiana – Chukwuma N. Okoye, Jr., 38, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced by United States District Judge Donald E. Walter to 46 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally obtaining money using pre-paid debit cards, according to United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown. Okoye was also sentenced to pay $2,379,860 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to use unauthorized access devices on November 9, 2021.

According to evidence presented in court during the guilty plea hearing, Okoye and his co-defendants purchased money orders and made cash withdrawals using unauthorized access devices, specifically pre-paid Green Dot debit cards registered to other people. Okoye and others traveled from Texas to Bossier City, Louisiana, where the Green Dot cards were used at a Walmart store on Airline Drive in Bossier City between July and September of 2020.

The funds on the Green Dot cards were obtained through fraudulently obtained Washington State unemployment insurance and fraudulently obtained Small Business Administration (SBA) loans obtained by unknown individuals. Unknown individuals transferred funds to the Green Dot cards after those funds were deposited into PayPal accounts, and the cards were then used at online retailers and various physical retail stores. All of the PayPal accounts and Green Dot cards used in the scheme were opened by unknown people using stolen personal identifying information.

The investigation uncovered 29 PayPal accounts that were used to fund the Green Dot cards used during the conspiracy at the Bossier City Walmart. These 29 accounts contained a total of $729,300 in illegal funds, which were seized.

Patrick N. Madubuko and Barnabas Akporehe, Okoye’s co-defendants, are on the run. If you have any information about their whereabouts, please contact your local United States Secret Service office or visit www.usmarshals.gov/tips.

The United States Secret Service and the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian C. Flanagan.