Nigerian citizen jailed in U.S. for ATM fraud

TRACKING___A Nigerian man in the U.S., Damilola Bamidele Isaac Samuel, has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for ATM fraud.

Samuel, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on Dec. 10, 2019. He was convicted in Shreveport, Louisiana for using fraudulent ATM bank cards to steal more than $260,000 from dozens of bank customers.

According to federal prosecutors, Chief U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. ordered Samuel to serve 33 months and pay $276,790 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph disclosed the judgement in a statement on Thursday July 23. The judgement was delivered on Monday, July 20, he said. He added that Samuel will face deportation proceedings after serving his term.

According to court documents, Samuel conspired with others to steal money from Regions Bank customers. Authorities said he set up accounts in legitimate bank customers’ names then transferred money from those accounts into fraudulently created accounts.

Multiple times, Samuel was seen on surveillance cameras using ATM cards associated with the fraudulent accounts, the statement said.