$2.4M Scam Lands Two Nigerians Nearly 16 Years in Prison

ValidViewNetwork gathered that the two Nigerians are Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, both former members of the United States Air Force.

They were sentenced in federal court after being convicted for their roles in an international cyber-intrusion and business-email-compromise operation.

The scheme reportedly operated for almost two years. The defendants and their co-conspirators used email spamming and phishing campaigns to steal usernames and passwords from employees’ email accounts.

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They then used the stolen credentials to impersonate businesses or their trusted partners. The suspects allegedly used spoofed email addresses that looked like legitimate addresses belonging to victims or their business partners.

The purpose was to convince businesses to redirect legitimate payments into bank accounts controlled by the conspiracy.

According to the US authorities’ account, one victim in Iowa City, Iowa, was defrauded of more than $1.68 million in a wire transfer. Another victim in Ohio lost more than $720,000.

Together, those two transactions exceeded $2.4 million.

The investigation also uncovered stolen financial account numbers, personal identification numbers and credit and debit card information.

The stolen information was allegedly exchanged among members of the conspiracy and used or attempted for unauthorised transactions and purchases.

Odimegwu received 111 months in prison and was ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution. Mogaji received 78 months and was ordered to pay $995,680.45 in restitution.

Their combined prison term is 189 months, equivalent to 15 years and nine months. Both were taken into custody after sentencing. The case was announced by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. ValidViewNetwork reports.