A Nigerian, Emmanuel Mong, caught trying to
catch a flight home, is in the process of being
extradited from Washington to Stamford in
California, where he will face charges that he
illegally intercepted a $30,000 wire transfer from
Purdue Pharma.
According to Port of Seattle Police, 24 year-old
Mong of Savannah, Georgia, was trying to catch
an Emirates Airlines flight to Nigeria on Dec. 16 at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Seeing there was a felony warrant in his name,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers
detained him until police arrived at Sea-Tac
Airport.
According to the report, Stamford police issued a
warrant for Mong’s arrest in 2017, charging him
with first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit
first-degree computer crime and conspiracy to
commit criminal impersonation, with a court-
ordered appearance bond of $250,000.
Despite his protests that he has never lived in
Georgia and claims that he is not the person
wanted in the warrant, Mong is being extradited to
Stamford.
His Stamford criminal defense attorney, Allan
Friedman, said Mong is eager to clear his name.
“Mr. Mong is looking forward to coming to
Stamford and having his day in court and
presenting evidence of his innocence,” Friedman
said. “We will resolve this matter in court.”
A spokesperson from Purdue Pharma said they
had no comment on the matter.
According to Mong’s four-page arrest affidavit,
Sean Coughlin, a Stamford police financial crimes
investigator, said Purdue Pharma became the
victim of what is known as a “man-in-the-email
scam,” wherein a corporation, usually with
business connections to Africa or Asia, have their
email systems hacked by a computer virus or
some other malware.