American defrauds Nigerians $565,000

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Marco Ramirez, an American man in Nigeria was on last Thursday re-arraigned before the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja for defrauding some Nigerians.

According to reports, Ramirez defrauded Nigerians to the tune of $565,000 (about N203.4m) while claiming he could help them secure the United States'  Green Card.

The EFCC arraigned Ramirez alongside his companies, USA Now LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP and USA Now Capital Group on an amended 12 counts bordering on conspiracy and obtaining under false pretences.

EFCC claims that Ramirez and his companies, sometime in February 2013 and August 2013 in Lagos, defrauded 3 people including an Ambassador Godson Echejue, Abubakar Sodiq and Olukayode Sodimu of the said sum.

The defendant and his companies were first arraigned on June 22, 2017, before Justice Josephine Oyefeso on 16 counts bordering on the same offences. He, however, pled not guilty to the charges and was admitted to bail in the sum of $25,000.

The case file was later transferred and Ramirez was re-arraigned before Justice Mojisola Dada. Ramirez’s counsel, Ademola Adefolaju, after taking his plea, urged the court to allow his client to continue with the bail terms set by the previous judge.

Justice Dada then asked if the defendant had complied with the bail terms, to which his lawyer confirmed that his client had fully complied and goes to the EFCC’s office as directed by the court.

Justice Dada granting his request said, “Having not breached the bail terms granted by my brother judge, the defendant is hereby allowed to continue with the terms.”

If convicted, Marco could spend years in the KiriKiri Maximum Prison in Lagos, Nigeria.  

How The Scam Worked

Marco Ramirez ran a scam operation called USA Now LLC.  The whole organization was an investment fraud scheme that lured foreigners to invest money in the US as part of the Immigrant Investment Program called EB-5.    It’s a program designed to stimulate the US economy by getting foreign investors to create jobs for Americans.

Marco ran a Ponzi scheme under this program where he would take money from foreigners thinking they were investing in this program but he would use the money for his own projects – like opening a restaurant called the Bayou Grill in McAllen Texas.   The Bayou Grill apparently offered questionable food quality and poor service.

In the end, the investors never got their Visas, Passports or Citizenship. Marco initially targeted Mexican investors, but then later targeted Egyptian and Nigerian Investors when those funds dried up.

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