Miami, FL – March 7, 2025 – Okechukwu Josiah Odunna, a 60-year-old resident of Abuja, Nigeria, appeared in a Miami federal court after being extradited to the United States for his alleged role in a mortgage fraud scheme. This scheme is said to have involved the fraudulent purchase of about 20 residential properties in Florida, leading to an estimated loss of $8 million for U.S. financial institutions.
Odunna faces serious charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was arrested by Nigerian authorities on September 24, 2024, following a U.S. extradition request. After waiving his right to contest the extradition, he was brought to the Southern District of Florida on March 6, 2025. He has been in custody since his arrest and is set to appear in court again on March 11 for pretrial detention and arraignment.
The indictment states that from December 2005 to May 2008, Odunna and his accomplices deceived U.S. banks by submitting false loan applications and documents. They misrepresented crucial information, such as the identities of borrowers and the true sale prices of properties. As a licensed attorney and director of Direct Title and Escrow Services, Inc. (DTES), Odunna was involved in closing these fraudulent transactions, where he used different settlement statements to hide the fraud…