Source: Office of United States Attorneys
GREENVILLE, N.C. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment on Wednesday charging Omoyoma Christopher Okoro, 51, a United States citizen born in Nigeria, with naturalization fraud. The indictment alleges that Okoro lied about his criminal history on his application to obtain U.S. citizenship.
According to the indictment and previously issued court documents, Okoro is alleged to have made knowingly and materially false statements under penalty of perjury on an application for naturalization. In response to one question “Have you EVER committed, assisted in committing, or attempted to commit, a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?” he answered “No.” Okoro took the oath of citizenship and naturalized on December 13, 2018.
On September 19, 2024, following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Okoro was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud. He was also convicted of two additional counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of bank fraud. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 100 months and ordered to pay over $22 million dollars in restitution. According to the jury’s verdict, Okoro committed those crimes from at least August 13, 2008, through January 1, 2011. He was not arrested until after he naturalized in 2018, so immigration officials were unaware of his crimes prior to granting citizenship.
Okoro is charged in a three-count indictment with naturalization fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison as well as the automatic revocation of his United States citizenship.
Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations Division is investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Warlick is prosecuting the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No.5:25-CR-130.
An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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