Las Vegas man gets 25-year prison term in Nigerian oil scam

A Las Vegas man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison Tuesday in connection with a large-scale Nigerian oil investment scheme, the Justice Department announced.

Anton Paul Drago, 65, also was ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution and serve five years of supervised release after prison.

Drago was convicted by a jury in March of 10 felony counts — including wire fraud, submitting false government claims, theft of government funds, lying to federal agents and failing to file a federal tax return.

“Today’s sentence reflects the serious nature of Mr. Drago’s crimes and the substantial harm he inflicted on his investors and the U.S. government,” said Caroline D. Ciraolo, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s tax division in Washington, D.C.

“When confronted with his extensive fraudulent conduct by federal agents, rather than come clean, Mr. Drago chose to double down on his lies and continue the scheme that funded his extravagant lifestyle.”

The evidence presented at trial showed that Drago carried out the oil investment fraud from 2004 through 2012. He told investors that their money would be used for legal fees and business expenses to fund the production, refinement and shipment of crude oil from Nigeria to the Bahamas.

Drago and a co-defendant promised investors a short-term turnaround with a return of up to 400 percent, according to federal prosecutors. But instead of investing the more than $2 million in the oil deal, the two defendants used the money for personal expenses.

The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.