A United States-based Nigerian professor, Gordian Ndubizu has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Trenton federal court for tax evasion.
A statement released by the US Justice Department on Tuesday disclosed that Ndubizu was a professor of accounting at a Pennsylvania university and co-owned Healthcare Pharmacy in Trenton, New Jersey.
The statement stated further that each of Ndubizu’s tax returns for tax years 2014 to 2017 underreported his income and falsely reported that he had no financial interest in or signature authority over any foreign bank accounts.
According to the report, Ndubizu, who ran the pharmacy alongside his wife, failed to report approximately $3.28 million in income. This resulted in the evasion of approximately $1.25 million in tax due and owing.
Additionally, the couple prepared fraudulent books and records for the pharmacy, inflating the cost of goods sold to reduce and underreport the pharmacy’s actual profits.
When questioned about transactions in the records, Ndubizu identified certain wire transfers as payments of goods sold by the pharmacy.
However, findings revealed that they were made to the convict’s personal bank accounts and Nigerian bank accounts associated with an automotive company under his control.
As a result of the investigation, Ndubizu was charged with eight counts but was convicted on four counts of tax evasion and falsified tax returns.
Ndubizu’s conviction adds to the growing list of Nigerians convicted in the US for various offenses, including fraud and romance scams.
In December 2024, two US-based Nigerians, Okechukwu Osuji and Tolulope Bodunde, were sentenced to a combined jail term of 10 years for $6 million fraud.
According to reports, they were co-conspirators in a business email compromise scheme that targeted US companies and elderly citizens, by pretending to be trustworthy entities to obtain money from their victims.
Similarly, in January 2025, two Nigerian nationals, Olutayo Ogunlaja and Abel Daramola were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in the US for orchestrating a $560,000 international romance scam.
According to the US Attorney’s office, the convicts in partnership with other accomplices, initiated a scheme in January 2016, using a fabricated identity, “Glenn Brown” on a dating website to defraud their victim of $560,000.
