Lagos fashion designer, Alade Vincent, jailed for cyber fraud in the US

The United States has sentenced Alade Vincent, better known by his stage name "Alvince," to four years and two months in federal prison. According to court records, wire fraud in the amount of $1.1 million was filed in the District Court for the District of Maryland.

He was taken into custody by federal agents on November 3, 2021. Mr. Vincent made his initial court appearance in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, on the same day that he was charged with aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud before Magistrate Judge Thomas DiGirolamo.

Following an indictment by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found Mr. Vincent guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on July 5, 2022. He immediately entered a guilty plea to the charges.

“The defendant is hereby committed to the custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a term of 26 months as to Count 1 and 24 months as to Count 6 to run consecutively to the term imposed as to Count 1 for a total term of 50 months,” Ms Gallagher ruled.

In addition, the judge mandated that Mr. Vincent, 35, pay $243,269.00 in restitution and undergo two years of supervised release (one year for each offence) after serving his prison sentence.

In Baltimore, Maryland, the fashion designer, who has dressed a number of prominent Nigerian celebrities, allegedly opened a number of bank accounts using the real identities of people to steal money from businesses and individuals in early 2019 through phoney emails and phone calls.

The top-tier bespoke garment designer in Lagos had teamed up with Nigerians Hameed Adesokan, Adewumi Abioye, Lukman Salam, Akolade Ojo, and Damilola Lawal to defraud people into wiring money to Mr Vincent's multiple bank accounts.

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