Sapphire Egemasi, a Nigerian tech enthusiast and self-described “tech queen,” is facing a potential prison sentence of over 20 years in the United States following her arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with a large-scale cyber fraud scheme.
Egemasi, a programmer with an active Devpost account, was apprehended around April 10, 2025, in the Bronx, New York. She was arrested alongside several co-conspirators, including Samuel Kwadwo Osei, a Ghanaian national believed to be the ringleader of the operation.
The arrests stem from a federal grand jury indictment filed in 2024, which charges the group with multiple counts of internet fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The alleged crimes occurred between September 2021 and February 2023, with investigators saying the syndicate defrauded various U.S. government agencies—most notably the city of Kentucky—of millions of dollars.
According to federal investigators, Egemasi played a pivotal role as the syndicate’s tech lead. Her responsibilities allegedly included creating sophisticated spoof websites designed to impersonate official U.S. government domains. These fake platforms were used to harvest login credentials and reroute funds into accounts controlled by the criminal network.
Prior to her arrest, Egemasi reportedly resided in Cambridge, United Kingdom. However, authorities believe she previously lived in Ghana, where she may have established ties with her co-conspirators.
Text message evidence presented by prosecutors reveals that in August 2022, the syndicate rerouted $965,000 stolen from Kentucky into a PNC Bank account. In another transaction, $330,000 was funneled into a Bank of America account.
To disguise the source of her income, Egemasi allegedly claimed to have held various internships at multinational companies such as British Petroleum, H&M, and Zara. Her online presence—especially on LinkedIn—projected an image of a rising tech professional, complete with photos of luxury vacations to destinations like Greece and Portugal. Prosecutors allege these trips were financed through illicit proceeds.
Egemasi and her Ghanaian co-defendants are currently in federal custody, awaiting trial in Lexington, Kentucky. If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison, significant financial penalties, and eventual deportation to their respective home countries upon completing their sentences.