The Nassau County District Attorney has announced the arrest of a man accused of stealing $45,000 from a Garden City resident as part of an e-mail scam.

Emeka Ndukwu, 50, from Lanham, Maryland, and a dual national of the United States and Nigeria, was arraigned on a felony complaint Saturday on a charge of grand larceny in the third degree.

Ndukwu was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court.

If convicted of the charge, Ndukwu faces a potential maximum sentence of two and 1/3 years to seven years in prison.

“Across the United States, we’re seeing an epidemic of email scams targeting people who transfer large sums of money as part of their jobs or who are about to transfer money as part of an important life event, like buying a home,” says DA Anne T. Donnelly. “In this case, the defendant and his co-conspirators allegedly targeted a young homebuyer in an email scam where they pretended be a real estate attorney and stole $45,000.00 in the process.” 

 Officials say between Oct. 8, 2021, and Oct. 12, 2021, a resident of Garden City sent two electronic wires for $45,000 total to a person he believed to be his real estate attorney.

Ndukwu, allegedly acted in concert with two other individuals, allegedly recruited an individual to receive the stolen money into that person’s bank account, and then obtained the proceeds of the fraud.

The defendant surrendered to detectives at the Garden City Police Department on Sept.30.

 Officials are telling residents to review email addresses carefully for deviations in the sender’s name or domain name and ensure that transaction details, including account numbers or payment options, haven’t changed.

The investigation is ongoing.