The Nakpodias jailed for
laundering money to Black Axe leader in Nigeria. L-R, Unuakpotovo, Okemiorukaye
and Esther.
Three Nigerian siblings who
were working directly for the leader of the Nigerian Black Axe gang, Augustus
Bemigho-Eyeoyibo, have been jailed for a total of 16 years after laundering
nearly £1m to him in Nigeria through UK bank accounts.
Crown Prosecution Service
reported on its website that Okemiorukaye Nakpodia, 56, was found guilty of
conspiracy to money launder at Woolwich Crown Court on 8 May. Esther Nakpodia,
35, Unuakpotovo Nakpodia, 46, both pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
They laundered the proceeds
of hundreds of frauds between 2007 and 2015.
Police identified 174
suspicious transactions entering bank accounts. Money from a number of the
victims of the original frauds ended up in the defendants’ bank accounts and
was then laundered by the Nakpodias.
Augustus Bemigho-Eyeoyibo,
leader of Black Axe, recipient of the money.
Augustus Bemigho-Eyeoyibo,
is the brother-in-law of the three defendants. Black Axe is a banned
organisation in Nigeria and has been linked to decades of murders, rapes,
extortion and drug dealing in Nigeria and across the world, with members
allegedly swearing a ‘blood oath’ to join.
Philip Slough, for the CPS,
said: “We were able to show the Nakpodias were talking to Augustus
Bemigho-Eyeoyibo, the leader of Black Axe, based on conversations found on
their devices. They talked about the amounts, and what to do with the funds
after they arrived, including how much to keep for themselves.
“This strong evidence
confirmed that the Nakpodias had been actively involved for a number of years
in a conspiracy to launder money which had been stolen by others using phone
and email scams.
“This prosecution will play
a role in starving a dangerous criminal gang of funds and we will seek to
recover their proceeds of crime at a later hearing.”
Today at Woolwich Crown
Court Unuakpotovo Nakpodia has been jailed for seven years and seven months,
Okemiorukaye Nakpodia has been jailed for six years and six months, while
Esther Nakpodia has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
Building the case
Philip Slough, for the CPS,
said: “Esther Nakpodia claimed to have never heard of Black Axe, denying links
to the organisation – this despite the fact her sister has been married to the
group’s leader for 14 years.
“She denied knowing that
Augustus Bemigho-Eyeoyibo is involved in gang activity, and said she believed
he was a reputable business man. She accepted being in possession of £28,000 when
arrested – this was money withdrawn from her bank account and was taking it
with her to Nigeria to give to her sister and brother-in-law in person. A
number of incriminating text messages were found on her mobile phone seized
from her upon arrest, revealing her deep involvement in the laundering of these
funds.
“Unuakpotovo Nakpodia
admitted opening and controlling numerous bank accounts – between January 2007
and February 2015, she received over £700,000 of suspicious payments from
between 65 and 70 unconnected parties in 16 different countries. Unuakpotovo
also denied being part of a conspiracy to money launder the proceeds of crime.
“Okemiorukaye Nakpodia
accepted all transactions relating to the bank accounts attributed to him – he
received nearly £50,000 of direct suspicious payments from eight unconnected
third parties in three different countries. He claimed not know the source of
these transfers.”
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