Two Nigerian Fraudsters Sentenced to Prison in U.S for $5 Million Email Scam

Two Nigerian nationals have been sentenced for their involvement in a major computer hacking and business email compromise (BEC) scheme that defrauded American companies of over $5 million.

Franklin Ifeanyichukwu Okwonna, 34, was sentenced today to five years and three months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. Okwonna had pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Co-defendant Ebuka Raphael Umeti, 35, was sentenced on August 27 to ten years in prison and also ordered to pay nearly $5 million in restitution. Umeti was convicted in June of multiple charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and intentional damage to a protected computer.

Between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their accomplices executed a scheme involving phishing emails that appeared to come from legitimate sources such as banks or vendors. These emails contained malicious software that allowed the fraudsters to access victim companies’ computer systems and email accounts. They then exploited this access to deceive employees into transferring funds to accounts controlled by the defendants.

The scheme resulted in over $5 million in losses to the affected companies. The FBI Washington Field Office led the investigation, with significant contributions from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and other agencies.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Withers and Senior Counsel Thomas S. Dougherty of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs coordinated with various international and domestic agencies to secure the extradition of the defendants.

For more information, visit the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia website or search for Case No. 1:22-cr-123 on PACER.