Group charged in scam of relief money

A group of Maryland residents are accused of scamming the federal government out of $8 million in relief funds designated for those who needed it most, according to prosecutors.

After hurricanes and wildfires that pummeled the United States in recent years, the federal government made relief funds available for those who found themselves uprooted amid the rubble of charred or washed-out homes.

Members of the group, prosecutors allege, were part of a scheme that stole the identity of disaster victims and applied for victim benefits — to pay their own rents, buy cars or make personal purchases.

John Irogho, 38, of Upper Marlboro, Md., has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to federal prosecutors. Odinaka Ekeocha, 33, of Laurel, Md., has been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Their arrests come a few weeks after another Maryland man, Tare Stanley Okirika, 30, of Laurel, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he fraudulently obtained government benefits to pay his rent and for other expenses, according to court documents.

Online records did not list an attorney for Ekeocha, and an attorney for Okirika did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur announced the arrest of two men in the alleged conspiracy.

Udy Ubom, an attorney for Irogho, declined to comment. Irogho had been scheduled to appear for a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Monday, but the proceeding was postponed.

The scheme relied heavily on “Green Dot” prepaid cards, according to prosecutors and court records. Those eligible for emergency benefits from the Federal Emergency Management Agency could opt to claim the funding through the cards that can be purchased at local grocery or convenience stores and registered to receive cash, court documents state.

Prosecutors said that between 2016 and 2018, the group filed false claims for disaster relief and purchased hundreds of “Green Dot” cards used to distribute aid funds to claim the money using the stolen identities of victims impacted by various disasters around the country, the government said.