Two Nigerian nationals have been jailed by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema for their involvement in a computer hacking and business email compromise scheme that caused over $5 million in losses to multiple victims in the United States.
Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and his role in the scheme. He was equally ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution.
Okwonna’s co-defendant, Ebuka Raphael Umeti who is also a Nigerian national, was sentenced 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.
The court documents and evidence presented at Umeti’s trial, Umeti, Okwonna and their co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in unauthorized 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 unauthorized 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.
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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 FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and David Sundberg, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Withers for the Eastern District of Virginia and Senior Counsel Thomas S. Dougherty of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section prosecuted the case. CCIPS Senior Counsel Aarash Haghighat assisted in the investigation and indictment of the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Nairobi, the U.S. Marshals Service, and Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Directorate of Criminal Investigation to secure the extradition of Umeti and Okwonna.
Credible News.ng
