The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, has sentenced Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, a 40-year-old Nigerian man, to eight years in prison for his involvement in hacking, identity theft and fraud schemes targeting American businesses and individuals.
TheNewsGuru reports that the US Department of Justice announced the sentencing on Monday, saying US District Judge Paul G. Gardephe sentenced Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York started investigating Amachukwu, his co-conspirator Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based accomplices after they began targeting US tax preparation businesses in or around 2019.
The group allegedly used spear-phishing emails to access the companies’ electronic systems, stealing tax records and personal information from about 800 customers.
Prosecutors said the stolen information was used to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities. The conspirators sought refunds totalling approximately $8.4m and successfully obtained at least $2.5m.
The group also used stolen identities to submit fraudulent applications to the US Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme, obtaining at least an additional $819,000 in illicit payments.
In a separate scheme, Amachukwu offered American victims investments in purportedly valuable standby letters of credit. Prosecutors said he impersonated a wealthy overseas financier to persuade victims to invest in financial instruments that did not exist.
The scheme generated more than $7m in fraudulent proceeds for Amachukwu and his co-conspirators, according to the Justice Department.
“Chukwuemeka Amachukwu believed he was operating safely offshore when he targeted his victims, but he has now been held to account and now faces a serious sentence for his crimes,” McDonald said.
In addition to the eight-year prison term, the court sentenced Amachukwu to one year of supervised release after his imprisonment. The court also ordered him to pay $3,647,629.39 in restitution and forfeit $10,846,634.39.
