A Catasauqua man faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court to a wire fraud scheme that cost victims nearly $2 million.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Chinedu Ekuma, 45, and others described as “co-schemers,” stole the money between August 2020 and March 2023.
Ekuma created two false businesses — Intelaris Solutions LLC and Verge Capital — which he used to target individuals and businesses that intended to make payments to other parties.
Ekuma and the co-schemers convinced the victims to send payments to Intelaris Solutions and Verge Capital bank accounts by claiming the accounts were associated with the parties the victims intended to pay. Ekuma created fraudulent documents to back the claim.
Ekuma transferred most of the fraud proceeds to the co-schemers and retained some for himself. The victims were taken for $1.75 million and the schemers tried to steal $650,000 more, the statement said.
Ekuma faces a maximum term of 40 years in prison when he is sentenced March 12.
The case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Allentown office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Francis Weber.