A Nigerian man, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, has been sentenced to eight years in prison in the United States for his role in multiple hacking, fraud and identity theft schemes.
Amachukwu, also known as Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung, was sentenced on Monday, October 19, by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York.
The sentencing was announced by United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald.
Amachukwu had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
McDonald said, “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
“Amachukwu took part in sophisticated schemes to hack into U.S. businesses, steal and use stolen identity information of victims, and commit fraud. These crimes imposed significant harm on the victims and the public, and so it is only appropriate that the crimes also come with a significant sentence for the defendant.”
According to superseding indictments and statements made in court, beginning in at least 2019, Amachukwu, his co-conspirator Kingsley Uchelue Utulu, and other Nigeria-based conspirators hacked into U.S.-based tax preparation businesses.
The conspirators used spearphishing emails to obtain access to the businesses’ electronic systems and stole the tax and other identifying information of at least 800 customers. The businesses were located in New York, Texas and other states.
Prosecutors said the conspirators obtained stolen identity information of thousands of individuals and used it to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state tax authorities.
They sought fraudulent refunds of at least $8.4 million, of which they successfully obtained at least $2.5 million.
In addition to the tax fraud, the conspirators used the stolen identities to file fraudulent claims with the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, obtaining at least an additional $819,000 in fraudulent payouts.
Amachukwu also took part in a separate fraud scheme in which he offered U.S. victims investments in purportedly valuable standby letters of credit.
In the course of the scheme, he impersonated a wealthy overseas financier. The investments did not exist, and Amachukwu and his co-conspirators pocketed more than $7 million.
In addition to the eight-year prison term, Amachukwu, 40, was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,647,629.39 and forfeiture in the amount of $10,846,634.39.
The case was handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Nessim in charge of the prosecution.