Two Nigerian nationals, Franklin Okwonna and Ebuka Umeti, have been sentenced by a U.S. federal court, ensuring justice for their involvement in a large-scale wire fraud scheme that defrauded victims of over $5 million.
As per a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice released on Tuesday, Franklin Okwonna, aged 34, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.
He was also ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. On May 20, Okwonna pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Okwonna’s co-defendant, Ebuka Umeti, aged 35, was sentenced on August 27 to 10 years in prison and was similarly ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution.
On June 13, Umeti was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to cause intentional damage to a protected computer, and deliberate damage to a protected computer.
The statement detailed that the pair, along with their co-conspirators, engaged in a highly sophisticated fraud scheme between February 2016 and July 2021. They targeted businesses through phishing emails that appeared to come from trusted sources, such as banks or vendors.
These emails contained malicious software (malware) that, once opened, allowed the fraudsters to gain unauthorized access to the victims’ computer systems and email accounts.
Once inside the systems, the conspirators used the stolen information to trick employees into authorizing wire transfers to accounts controlled by the fraudsters. The scheme led to over $5 million in losses to the targeted businesses.
The statement emphasized the severity of the crime, highlighting how the fraudulent emails led to unauthorized wire transfers and significant financial damage, resulting in over $ 5 million in losses to the targeted businesses. The court’s sentencing underscores the legal consequences of such high-impact cybercrimes.
