- Sapphire became the darling of social media users and a role model for many impressionable young netizens due to her acclaimed success in the tech industry
No admonition or wise counsel has captured the superficiality and illusion of social media than the aphorism ‘everything that glitters is not gold’. The story of ‘tech queen’ Sapphire Egemasi further echoes the truism of this adage.
Sapphire became the darling of social media users and a role model for many impressionable young netizens due to her acclaimed success in the tech industry and the expensive life of luxury this success afforded her. But what many did not know was that behind her carefully curated image of a successful young lady who made it against all odds in a highly competitive and cutthroat tech industry was a grifter and fraudster who defrauded many hapless and unsuspecting citizens and the government of the United States.
This expose chronicles the rise of Sapphire Egemasi from an unknown tech enthusiast to a social media sensation and her fall from grace.
Sapphire Egemasi, a 28-year-old Nigerian software developer, rose to fame as a courageous, flamboyant, and ambitious woman in tech. She disclosed that she had internships at multinational companies like BP, Zara, and H&M. A disclosure that would later turn out to be a lie to create an impression of a legitimate working relationship with these companies and brands. Hence, no one can doubt her ability to afford her seemingly expensive lifestyle. Her LinkedIn and Instagram are awash with pictures and videos of her vacations in Greece, France, and Portugal, designer outfits, and a lifestyle that seemed aspirational to many. But these are all fabricated realities that will soon crash like a house of cards.
$1.3 million cybercrime fraud
According to official documents released by U.S. authorities, Sapphire was part of a sophisticated cyber fraud syndicate that reportedly stole millions of dollars through phishing scams and phoney crypto investment schemes. Investigators said she was not just a nominal member of the ring but a key character in the operation of the syndicate. She was said to have used her clout and refined image to bring in investors, clean illicit proceeds and help the gang move stolen funds to accounts controlled by the fraudsters through wire transfers.
Sapphire, a programmer who operates a Devpost account, was apprehended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) around April 10, 2025, in the Bronx, New York, alongside other co-conspirators, including Samuel Kwadwo Osei, who was reportedly the leader of the syndicate.
Their arrest came after they were indicted by a federal grand on internet fraud and money laundering charges against them last year for the offences officials alleged to have occurred between September 2021 and February 2023.
According to court documents detailing her criminal acts, the Nigerian national and her co-defendants, who are Ghanaians, conspired to defraud the city of Kentucky millions of dollars, with Sapphire’s tasked with designing and registering spoof websites of U.S. government institutions to steal login credentials.
Retrieved text messages confirmed that the group had once rerouted $965,000 in stolen funds from the city of Kentucky to a PNC Bank account in August 2022. During the same period, the gang also diverted $330,000, another chunk of money stolen from the city, into an account at Bank of America.
Twenty years in jail.
Sapphire is currently in custody with her co-conspirators awaiting trial in Lexington, Kentucky, where they each face up to 20 years’ imprisonment, thousands of dollars in fines and potential deportation back to their respective countries upon completion of sentences.
Below are pictures from her vacations
https://x.com/thatsapphiree/status/1683053602745602048?t=7T7yfYt3nDM2eMUX6r5UWQ&s=19
Her arrest and revelation of her fraudulent and criminal activities took social media by storm. Her once flawless, tremendous, enviable and exemplary character and image have since dissipated in smoke of public disdain, opprobrium and derision.
Hitherto regarded as “Naija Girlboss of the Digital Age,” Sapphire’s meteoric rise to fame and sudden fall from grace now highlights the delicate line between influence, happiness and illusion — especially in the era of keeping up appearances and performative achievements.
Sapphire Egemasi’s ordeal is a cautionary tale. In a world hooked on aesthetics, clout, instant gratification and quick success, not everything that glitters is indeed gold.
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