A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian-born man, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, to eight years in prison for his involvement in hacking, identity theft and multiple fraud schemes targeting American businesses and individuals.
Gatekeepers News reports that Amachukwu, 40, who also goes by the names Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung, was sentenced by US District Judge Paul G. Gardephe after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to a statement by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on Monday, Amachukwu and his co-conspirator, Kingsley Uchelue Utulu, alongside other accomplices based in Nigeria, began hacking US tax preparation businesses around 2019.
The group reportedly used spear-phishing emails to gain unauthorised access to the companies’ electronic systems, stealing tax records and personal information belonging to approximately 800 customers.
The affected businesses were located in New York, Texas and other parts of the United States.
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 about $8.4 million and successfully obtained at least $2.5 million.
They also used the stolen identities to submit fraudulent applications under the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme, obtaining an additional $819,000 in illicit payments.
Beyond the hacking and tax fraud schemes, Amachukwu participated in an investment fraud operation targeting American victims, according to prosecutors.
He allegedly offered investments in purportedly valuable standby letters of credit while impersonating a wealthy overseas financier to convince victims that the investments were legitimate.
The investments did not exist, and Amachukwu and his co-conspirators obtained more than $7 million through the scheme, prosecutors said.
US Attorney Jamie McDonald said Amachukwu had believed he could operate safely from offshore locations while targeting American victims but had now been held accountable.
In addition to the eight-year prison sentence, Amachukwu was ordered to serve one year of supervised release after completing his term.
He was also ordered to pay $3,647,629.39 in restitution and forfeit $10,846,634.39.
Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted in the investigation, while the prosecution was handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
