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International Law/Fraud
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Southway v. Central Bank of Nigeria,328 F.3d 1267 (10th Cir. 2003), involved a fraud commonly known as an Advanced Fee Fraud or "419 Scam." In these scams, impostors posing as Nigerian Government officials claim to have access to millions of dollars on deposit at the Central Bank of Nigeria, which they claim are left over from an over funded government contract. The impostors contact various individuals and businesses throughout the world and offer to share the money from the over funded contracts if the individuals or companies assist them in getting the funds out of Nigeria. Fraudulent government documents are produced in order to create an air of legitimacy to the transaction. The assistance sought by the impostors is the payment of various purported fees, taxes and bribes in order to get the money out of Nigeria. The so-called victims of the scam, driven by greed, ultimately pay these alleged fees and taxes by wire transfer to various private bank accounts throughout the world. Since the whole transaction is a scam, the fictitious, over funded contract funds are never sent to the so-called victims.
In Southway, the plaintiffs and others paid in excess of $700,000 to various impostors in an effort to obtain $21,000,000 that was said to be on deposit at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Thereafter, the plaintiffs commenced this fraud and RICO action against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Central Bank of Nigeria. After the close of discovery, we moved for summary judgment on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria. Chief Judge Babcock of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado granted the motion for summary judgment. 149 F.Supp.2d 1268 (D. Colo. 2001) In granting the motion, the Court found that the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria were immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. In reaching this decision, the Court held that the scam was perpetrated by individuals posing as Nigerian Government officials and that Nigerian Government officials were not involved in the scam.
The Tenth Circuit unanimously affirmed the decision of the District Court dismissing the case on the grounds that the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its Central Bank were immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
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