Ex-MBGN Sandra Petgrave and hubby jailed in US

The most beautiful girl in Nigeria 1992, Sandra Petgrave, and her husband, Chiedu “George” Chukwuka, have been jailed by the United States government.

The US Department of Justice website, (www.justice.gov) revealed that the 43-year-old former beauty queen and her 47-year-old husband were sentenced to jail for being a part of a mortgage fraud ring that happened between 2006 and 2011. The massive property-flipping fraud is said to be to the tune of over $5.8m in actual losses to banks.

The couple were said to be part of the fraud ring by getting straw buyers to buy homes at a discounted price, typically a bank-owned or distressed property. They then recruit a second straw of buyers to purchase the same home at an unbelievably high price. They in turn apply for an acquisition loan for the second straw buyer, supporting the loan application with false income, fake employment, and fraudulent net worth data.

They profited from this by pocketing the acquisition loan proceeds paid by the victim bank to the straw seller (who was the straw purchaser in the first transaction). The amount of profit was the difference between the price paid by the straw purchaser in the first transaction and the price paid by the straw purchaser in the second transaction, less transaction costs.

Since none of the straw purchasers made any significant loan payments, the targeted properties usually went into foreclosure, resulting in over $5.8m in actual losses to banks Chukwuka was sentenced 9 years in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5.8m.

Sandra Petgrave was sentenced to one year, six months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1.1m. Sandra quietly relocated to America in the mid nineties after her reign. She and her husband have six children and the last of the children are 9-year-old twin boys.