A Nigerian man, James Junior Aliyu, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison in the United States after being extradited from South Africa over a multi-million dollar wire fraud scheme.
Gatekeepers News reports that the conviction follows Aliyu’s involvement in a $4.1 million fraud and money laundering operation targeting dozens of victims in the US.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the Nigerian was also ordered to forfeit $1.2 million and pay $2.4 million in restitution to victims affected by the scheme. He is expected to be deported after completing his jail term.
Aliyu was initially arrested in July 2022 in Sandton, Johannesburg, by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) with support from the South African Police Service. Authorities linked him to a cybercrime syndicate involved in phishing, internet scams, and laundering illicit funds.
Investigations revealed that between February and July 2017, Aliyu and his co-conspirators gained unauthorised access to email accounts belonging to individuals and businesses. They then sent fake wire instructions using spoofed email addresses to trick victims into transferring money into accounts controlled by the fraud network.
After his extradition to the US, Aliyu pleaded guilty to the charges. Eight other co-conspirators, all residents in the US, also admitted guilt in separate but related cases handled in the District of Maryland.
Prosecutors said Aliyu was directly responsible for at least $4,162,211 in fraudulent transactions, describing the scheme as a coordinated cybercrime operation that exploited trust in digital communications.
