After serving $11m US fraud sentence, Invictus Obi returns to social circles with political ambitions

Obinwanne Okeke, the businessman widely known as Invictus Obi who was deported from the United States after serving a six-year sentence for a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, has re-emerged in Nigeria’s elite social circles and is reportedly eyeing political office, the Peoples Gazette reported Sunday.

Okeke appeared at a Lagos high-society birthday bash over the weekend, dressed in a black tuxedo and bow tie, mingling openly with prominent figures. A close associate confirmed his political ambitions would soon be made public, though it remained unclear whether he would seek elective office from the South-East or pursue a federal appointment under President Bola Tinubu.

His ambitions, however, face a formidable constitutional wall. Nigerian law bars individuals convicted and sentenced to terms of less than ten years from contesting elections. Okeke was sentenced to ten years in February 2021 but released in December 2025, apparently benefiting from the First Step Act prison reform signed by President Donald Trump during his first term. He had masterminded a global email hacking scheme that diverted approximately $11 million from victims between 2015 and 2019.

His lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.