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Two Nigerian citizens, Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna and Ebuka Raphael Umeti, have bagged prison sentences in the United States for their involvement in a large-scale wire fraud that cost their victims over $5 million.
The two convicts were sentenced by a U.S. federal court, noted a statement posted on the website of the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
The 34-year-old Okwonna was on Tuesday handed a five-year and three-month prison term by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.
The judge also ordered him to cough out nearly $5 million in restitution to his victims. This comes after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on May 20, 2024.
His co-defendant, 35-year-old Umeti, received 10 years in prison on August 27, 2024, and was similarly ordered to pay nearly $5m in restitution.
Umeti's conviction came through a federal jury on June 13 over charges 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.
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“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 $5m in restitution for participating in a computer hacking and business email compromise scheme that caused over $5m 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,” the statement partly read.
Court documents expose fraudsters' tricks
According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, Okwonna, Umeti and their co-conspirators orchestrated a sophisticated fraud scheme between February 2016 and July 2021 targeting businesses through phishing emails.
These emails, designed to originate from trusted sources such as banks or vendors, contained malicious software (malware) that, once opened, allowed the schemers to gain unauthorised access to their victims' computer systems and email accounts.
The fraudsters then proceeded to use the access to obtain sensitive information, tricking employees into authorising wire transfers to accounts controlled by the conspirators.
The scheme resulted in attempted or actual losses of over $5 million for the targeted businesses.
“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.
“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,” the statement added.