A 35-year-old Canadian will make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court today facing charges of mail and wire fraud relating to an alleged fake lottery and sweepstake scheme.

Williams E. Njoku was arrested Wednesday after arriving on a flight from Canada. The FBI said he was coming here as a tourist.

A grand jury indictment in Los Angeles Dec. 14 said Njoku and his co-schemers allegedly lied to victims on the phone saying they had won a lottery or sweepstake and that the winnings could only be released if the victims wired money to Canada to pay fees, taxes or other expenses.  

Njoku would send a check to the victim and instruct the victim to deposit the check into the victim’s bank account and to use the funds to pay for expenses, the indictment said. When the bank determined the check was fraudulent, it would reverse the deposit by debiting the victim’s account in the amount of the check.

The indictment lists five mailings and wirings that occurred in 2008. All of the victims lived in Riverside, California. None of them ever won any money.

The case will be tried in Los Angeles.