FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was residing in North Dakota is being arraigned Monday on federal wire fraud and bank fraud charges after prosecutors say he received more than $113,000 that was stolen from a North Carolina auction business through an email impersonation scheme, and spent nearly all of it within hours to pay off personal debts.
Nicolas Mondani Oleko, 32, appeared in federal court in the District of North Dakota Monday for his arraignment. The indictment, returned by a grand jury on June 3, was unsealed Monday. Oleko is currently held at the Stutsman County Corrections Center. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, the scheme targeted an auction business in Asheville, North Carolina, that had sold furniture, silver, and historical artifacts on behalf of an 80-year-old art dealer. After the auction, the business sent a settlement statement to the dealer by email. Someone then impersonated the dealer using a nearly identical email address, replacing the letter “o” with the number “0”, and redirected the wire payment instructions to a Wells Fargo account belonging to Oleko’s business, Mondani LLC…