A member of the Benin royal family who was arrested in 2018 with his co-defendant, Kamel McKay for scamming 250 job seekers and raking in thousands of dollars from their unsuspecting victims has been served with a no-jail sentence.
Osmond Eweka, 31 appeared at the Manhattan Supreme Court where he was given a no-jail sentence, known in legal parlance as a conditional discharge.
NY Post report that he previously copped to two counts of scheme to defraud and paid $50,000 in restitution as part of the sweetheart plea deal struck in December with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
“Mr. Eweka chose to do what was best for his family and his newborn son,” said his lawyer, Thomas Kenniff. “He is pleased with the court’s decision to sentence him without jail time and now looks forward to resuming a law-abiding life.”
His co-defendant, Kamel McKay, pleaded guilty to the same charges in exchange for one year in jail.
The defendants allegedly targeted job seekers on indeed.com, promising to find them work, including as front-desk receptionists and hotel housekeepers, in exchange for a fee of between $300 and $700, court records show.
After interviewing the victims and collecting their fee, the alleged fraudsters would send them to work sites, where they were turned away by employers who weren’t expecting them. The confused job seekers were then unable to get in touch with Eweka, McKay or their bogus employment agencies.
The duo pocketed $54,000 in fees and didn’t provide a single job, according to prosecutors.
Eweka, who married an attorney in 2016 in an elaborate wedding ceremony in Nigeria, allegedly operated the bogus employment agency scam out of an Empire State Building office under the alias Sean Jackson.
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