Sapphire Egemasi, a Nigerian tech enthusiast popularly known on social media as a “tech queen,” has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for her alleged involvement in a multi-million dollar internet fraud and money laundering scheme targeting U.S. government agencies.
Egemasi, a programmer with a Devpost profile, was apprehended on April 10, 2025, in the Bronx, New York, alongside several co-conspirators, including Samuel Kwadwo Osei, believed to be the ringleader of the syndicate.
According to federal court documents, Egemasi and her associates — mostly of Ghanaian origin — were indicted by a grand jury last year on charges related to a fraud scheme that ran from September 2021 to February 2023. The group is accused of stealing millions of dollars from government entities, including the city of Kentucky.
Egemasi’s alleged role involved designing and registering fake websites mimicking U.S. government platforms to harvest login credentials. Investigators also say she played a key part in laundering the stolen funds by transferring them to bank accounts controlled by the syndicate.
Text messages obtained during the investigation revealed that the group rerouted $965,000 in stolen funds to a PNC Bank account in August 2022. During the same period, they allegedly moved an additional $330,000 into an account at Bank of America.
Authorities say Egemasi had been living in Cambridge, United Kingdom, before her arrest and had previously spent time in Ghana, where she reportedly met her co-conspirators. She allegedly served as the technical expert in the fraud ring, which operated between the U.S. and Nigeria.
To hide the origins of her wealth, Egemasi falsely claimed to have held internships and roles at major companies like British Petroleum, H&M, and Zara. On platforms like LinkedIn, she cultivated an image of success and luxury, often sharing photos from lavish trips to destinations such as Greece and Portugal.
Egemasi and her co-defendants are currently in custody, awaiting trial in Lexington, Kentucky. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in federal prison, substantial fines, and possible deportation after serving their sentences.
