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It's among the most common spam scams -- e-mail from a Nigerian dignitary promising millions of dollars in return for the temporary use of your bank account.

Now, a bank is paying dearly for the phony solicitations.

United Bank for Africa avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing to resolve allegations it obstructed an investigation of money laundering through accounts held at a bank branch in Manhattan, according to Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The accounts, under the name of Zamora Nigeria Ltd., held "proceeds of various fraud schemes in which victims were fraudulently induced to send monies to Nigeria," Garcia said.

The bank forfeited $5.3 million because it created fake, backdated documents claiming it was independent of Zamora, according to Garcia, even though the entities actually had a close business relationship. The Central Bank of Nigeria also imposed civil fines of $700,000 on UBA.

Perhaps, the bank also should plead no contest to aggravated bad grammar and conspiracy to commit felonious spelling.