Guilty of Money Laundering Scheme
Post 5238

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Prison Sentence for Fraud Must be Limited to the Fraud in Which the Defendant Participated

In United States v. Stephen O. Anagor, No. 2:24-CR-00019-DCLC-CRW (E.D. Tenn., Nov. 26, 2025) by Judge Clifton L. Corker the government sought to increase the defendant’s sentence because his co-conspirators added a fraudulent FBI scam that resulted in the victim’s suicide. Anagor sought a lower sentence because he was only involved in part of the fraud.

Charges & Plea

Defendant, a U.S. Army soldier pled guilty on June 11, 2025 to Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Stalking Resulting in Death and Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Identity Theft that was part of a larger 38-count superseding indictment against Anagor and co-defendants Chinagorom Onwumere and Salma Abdalkareem for an international Nigerian-based romance-scam + follow-on “law-enforcement extortion” scheme.

Role of Anagor

Anagor recruited co-defendant Onwumere into the money-laundering side of the scam and received victim checks in the mail, deposited them into his own U.S. bank accounts, kept a cut, and wired the rest overseas (primarily to Nigeria).

Anagor purchased and sent flowers/gifts to victims to maintain the illusion of romance, knew the funds were proceeds of romance-scam fraud but did not know the specific communications with victims and was not aware that Nigerian co-conspirators were running a secondary “impersonate the FBI/Attorney General” extortion scheme on top of the romance scam.

Key Victim (Victim 1) & Tragic Outcome

An elderly retired teacher from Jonesborough, TN believed he was in a romantic relationship with a celebrity. Nude photos from scammers in Nigeria then switched to impersonating federal law enforcement, threatened exposure/arrest, and extorted $97,500 (his entire life savings) via checks and cashier’s checks sent to Onwumere/Abdalkareem.

After paying, the retired teacher faced continued threats that escalated to the point that Victim 1 sent suicidal messages to the scammers (thinking they were the “celebrity”) and on October 23, 2023 Victim 1 committed suicide.

Anagor knew Victim 1 was being targeted (saw his name and the laundering accounts in WhatsApp messages) and personally received $33,430 that originated from Victim 1’s money laundered through Onwumere/Abdalkareem, but he did not know about the law-enforcement impersonation, the threats, or the suicidal messages.

KEY LEGAL TAKEAWAYS FROM THE OPINION

Relevant Conduct (U.S.S.G. §1B1.3)

Anagor was responsible for the core romance-scam money-laundering activity he agreed to and could reasonably foresee, yet the court concluded he is not responsible for the Nigerian co-conspirators’ separate law-enforcement extortion tactics or knowledge of Victim 1’s suicidal ideation because those were outside the scope of the jointly undertaken activity he signed up for.

2B1.1(B)(16)(A) “Conscious Or Reckless Risk Of Death” In Fraud Cases

The statute requires either (i) subjective awareness, or (ii) objective recklessness. In the Sixth Circuit, the risk must be “actual, not conjectural.”

Mere participation in a romance scam that tragically ends in suicide is not enough for the enhancement when the defendant was unaware of the specific threats or victim’s mental state.

BOTTOM LINE

As of November 26, 2025, the court rejected the government’s attempts to add +4 levels to the fraud guideline calculation. The original (lower) offense level stands going into the December 2, 2025 sentencing hearing, where the court will still consider possible upward variances under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) because of the victim’s death and the overall egregiousness of the scheme.

ZALMA OPINION

Fraud schemes based in Nigeria have been rampant since I obtained adulthood in the 1960’s with even my older brother almost became a victim. Anagor, while serving as a soldier in the US Army participated in a fairly successful money laundering scheme by convincing an elderly man into a romance scam where he was led to believe he had a romantic involvement with a celebrity. The scheme went bad when they Nigerians claimed to be FBI agents who threatened him with arrest until he paid his life savings to the fraudsters. Anagor was allowed to be sentenced for the money laundering but not the FBI scheme that resulted in the victim’s suicide. He will be sentenced but not enhanced.

(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.

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