Sapphire Egemasi, a Nigerian tech enthusiast, is confronting a potential prison sentence exceeding 20 years in the United States following her arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for her alleged involvement in a large-scale fraud scheme targeting multiple U.S. government agencies.
Egemasi, a programmer with a Devpost account, was arrested around April 10, 2025, in Bronx, New York, alongside several co-conspirators, including Samuel Kwadwo Osei, who is believed to have led the syndicate. Their arrest follows a federal grand jury indictment filed in 2024, charging them with multiple counts of internet fraud and money laundering related to crimes reportedly committed between September 2021 and February 2023.
Investigators claim that Egemasi and her Ghanaian co-defendants conspired to defraud the city of Kentucky out of millions of dollars. Her alleged role involved designing spoof websites that impersonated official U.S. government domains, enabling the theft of login credentials and the facilitation of fraudulent fund transfers.
Before her arrest, Egemasi was reportedly residing in Cambridge, United Kingdom, although authorities believe she initially lived in Ghana, where she likely formed connections with her co-conspirators. As the syndicate’s tech lead, she is accused of orchestrating the creation of fake websites and managing wire transfers to accounts controlled by the criminal organization.
Evidence suggests that in August 2022, the group successfully rerouted $965,000 stolen from Kentucky into a PNC Bank account. A separate transaction during the same period reportedly funneled $330,000 into an account at Bank of America.
In an apparent effort to conceal the origins of her wealth, Egemasi allegedly misrepresented her professional background, claiming to have held various internships at prominent multinational corporations, including British Petroleum, H&M, and Zara. Known online as ‘tech queen’, she cultivated a polished digital persona, particularly on LinkedIn, where she showcased her skills and displayed a lavish lifestyle.
Egemasi’s social media platforms featured images of extravagant vacations in locations such as Greece and Portugal, which prosecutors allege were funded through illicit gains.
Currently, Egemasi and her co-accused remain in federal custody, awaiting trial in Lexington, Kentucky. If convicted, they face significant prison time, substantial financial penalties, and potential deportation upon completion of their sentences.