US Court Sentences Two Nigerian Nationals To Prison For Wire Fraud
Two Nigerians national identified as Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna and Ebuka Raphael Umeti have been sentenced to prison, over wire fraud in United States.
This was contained in a statement posted on the website of US Department of Justice (DoJ), on Wednesday, noting that Ifeanyichukwu, 34, who was sentenced to five years and three months in prison was also ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution.
He was sentenced on Tuesday, September 3 by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, for participating in a computer hacking and business email compromise scheme that caused over $5 million in losses to multiple victims in the United States and elsewhere.
The convict on May 20, the pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his role in the scheme.
The DoJ said a fellow Nigerian and Okwonna’s co-defendant, Ebuka Raphael Umeti, 35, was sentenced on August 27 to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution.
Umeti was convicted by a federal jury on June 13 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to cause intentional damage to a protected computer, and intentional damage to a protected computer.
“A Nigerian national was sentenced today in the Eastern District of Virginia to five years and three months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution for participating in a computer hacking and business email compromise scheme that caused over $5 million in losses to multiple victims in the United States and elsewhere. Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna, 34, pleaded guilty on May 20 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his role in the scheme.
“Okwonna’s co-defendant, Nigerian national Ebuka Raphael Umeti, 35, was sentenced on Aug. 27 to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. Umeti was convicted by a federal jury on June 13 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to cause intentional damage to a protected computer, and intentional damage to a protected computer.
“According to court documents and evidence presented at Umeti’s trial, between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in unauthorised wire transfers by sending victim businesses phishing emails. These emails falsely appeared as though they originated from trusted sources, such as a bank or a vendor.
“After the victim opened an attachment, their computers would be infected with malicious software, or “malware,” that allowed the defendants and their co-conspirators to gain unauthorised access to the victim’s computer systems and email accounts.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators then exploited that access to obtain sensitive information, which they used to deceive individuals at the victim companies into executing wire transfers to accounts specified by the co-conspirators. As a result of this scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators caused or attempted to cause over $5 million in losses to the victim companies.”
