5-6-2025
A Nigeria born woman Sapphire Egemasi known as “tech queen” for her online enthusiasm has been arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for participating in a scheme that defrauded U.S. government agencies.
Egemasi, a programmer with an active Devpost profile, was arrested April 10, 2025, alongside other members of a syndicate in New York. This includes the ringleader of the gang Samuel Kwadwo Osei from Ghana.
The arrests follow a federal grand jury indictment filed in 2024, which charged the group with multiple counts of internet fraud and money laundering. The crimes allegedly took place between September 2021 and February 2023.
According to prosecutors, the syndicate defrauded the city of Kentucky of millions of dollars by creating spoof websites that mimicked official U.S. government portals. These fraudulent platforms were used to harvest login credentials and redirect funds into accounts under the group’s control.
Investigators say Egemasi served as the technical lead of the operation. She allegedly designed the fake websites and managed the coordination of wire transfers. Records show that in August 2022 alone, the group rerouted $965,000 into a PNC Bank account and funneled another $330,000 into a Bank of America account.
Before her arrest, Egemasi was reportedly based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, though authorities believe she previously lived in Ghana, where she may have forged ties with other members of the syndicate. Peoples Gazzette