By Vhahangwele Nemakonde at The Citizen
- The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an appeal by six Nigerian men (part of an original group of eight) who were fighting their extradition to the United States to face trial.
- The group is accused of running an international criminal enterprise between 2011 and 2021, allegedly using romance scams, identity theft, and “wire fraud” to steal $17 million from victims in the US and around the world.
- Despite the men’s argument that their alleged crimes don’t match South African law, the court ruled the conduct constitutes fraud and money laundering in SA; the group will remain in custody while the Minister of Justice makes the final decision on their surrender to US authorities.
The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an appeal by six Nigerian men seeking to block their extradition to the United States.
Although notices of appeal were lodged by eight men when the matter came before the Western Cape High Court, it was noted that two of the accused were no longer proceeding with their appeals.
The judgment paved the way for a final decision by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Perry Osagiede, Enorense Izevbigie, Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, Osariemen Eric Clement, Collins Otughwor, Musa Mudashiru, Toriseju Gabriel Otubu and Prince Ibeabuchi Mark will remain in custody while authorities decide whether they will stand trial in the US.
The group had approached the Western Cape High Court to appeal against an order made on 19 February 2024, holding that the accused were liable to be surrendered to the US.
The order followed earlier rulings made on 6 July 2023 and 25 January 2024. Their appeal was initially heard on 15 August 2025, with further submissions on 15 September 2025. The judgment was delivered on Tuesday, 7 April 2026.
Charges against Nigerian men
It is alleged that between 2011 and 2021, the Nigerian men participated in an international criminal enterprise in which they committed various acts of ‘wire’ fraud, ‘aggravated identity theft’, and money laundering.
The men allegedly defrauded several individual victims in the USA, and corporate and government entities across the world, of at least $17 million (R279.2 million). They allegedly laundered the money by moving their proceeds through various structures, entities and banks.
The Nigerian men allegedly used false aliases, which they adopted by ‘stealing’ and using the identities of real people. In several alleged ‘romance scams’, the appellants lured vulnerable women and deceived them into believing they were in love with them, getting them to part with large sums of money.
Appeal
In support of their request for the extradition of the accused, who are Nigerian citizens who lived in South Africa at the time, the US authorities filed affidavits by State Attorneys for the Districts of New Jersey and Eastern Texa, which set out the history of the pending matters against each of the appellants; and by agents from the US Secret Service and the FBI, which detailed the investigations which were carried out.
The first through seventh appellants were charged by the United States District Court for New Jersey on 22 July 2021, and the eighth appellant by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on 18 November 2021.
At the heart of the appeal was the question of whether the principle of double criminality was satisfied in the extradition request.
It requires that a person should not be extradited unless the crime for which they are sought by a requesting state is one for which, in turn, the requested state would be able to demand extradition. It is premised on the underlying notions of reciprocity and mutuality, which underpin extradition.
Judgment
The accused contended that the magistrate erred in holding that the elements of the offences for which they are sought to be tried in the USA correspond to offences under our law.
“The fact that SA does not have statutory offences of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft is immaterial,” commented Judge Mark Sher and acting judge Ajay Bhoopchand AJ.
“The alleged conduct of the appellants, in ‘stealing’ the identities of other persons and using them to establish false online personas, to enable them to make false misrepresentations and thereby induce victims in the USA and elsewhere to part with sums of money to their prejudice, which was largely committed from and within SA, constitutes in SA, the common law offence of fraud and statutory offences of cyber fraud and cyber forgery and uttering, in contravention of various provisions of the Cybercrimes Act, which, given the nature and seriousness of the offences and the amounts involved, would merit sentences of imprisonment well in excess of one year.
“The alleged conduct of the appellants in ‘laundering’ the proceeds which they derived from these unlawful activities, through various bank accounts, and structures and entities in various countries, had it been committed in SA (if it was not), would constitute contraventions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, [110] for which sentences of imprisonment of up to 30 years may be imposed.”
The judges dismissed the Nigerian men’s appeal, upholding that they are liable to be extradited to the US and that they remain behind bars while awaiting the final decision of the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development.
This article was republished from The Citizen. Read the original here.
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