FOLLOWING an intense investigation conducted by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), it was revealed that during 2022, Matthew Ejike Nwachukwu facilitated several fraudulent romance schemes and package delivery scams that defrauded dozens of Guyanese of millions of dollars countrywide.

On Thursday, June 12, 2025, Magistrate Rushell Liverpool of the Wismar Magistrate’s Court found the Nigerian man guilty on two  counts of Conspiracy to Commit a Felony contrary to Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8.01, and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, each, on both counts.

In September 2022, Ejike was charged and remanded on both charges. One of the complainants whose case was on trial recounted that she was befriended by a German man (the mastermind), and that they later developed a long-distance relationship.

She recalled that in July 2022, her German partner indicated that he would be sending packages for her with valuables via FedEx.

She stated that after three days, she received a call from a foreign number stating that the packages had arrived in Guyana, and that she would be required to pay the sum of G$155,000.00 to various persons at the Mackenzie Post Office to uplift them.

She related that she believed the packages to be genuine after she was informed that diamonds and other valuables were in them, and that the sum of G$155,000.00 was required to ensure that they were not confiscated on the basis of money laundering.

At the trial, SOCU led evidence to show that the defendant, Matthew Ejike Nwackukwu, was an accessory to the crime, and that he’d  arranged agents on behalf of the German mastermind to uplift monies from the virtual complainant at the Mackenzie Post Office.

The matter was prosecuted by SOCU Prosecutors Aaron Daniels and Neville Jeffers, while Attorney-at-Law Lawrence Harris represented the defendant, Matthew Ejike Nwachukwu.

SOCU reports that efforts are being made to apprehend the German mastermind and other accomplices as investigations continues into massive package delivery and romance schemes by Nigerian nationals operating here in Guyana.  (SOCU)