By Ayodele Oni
After about two years of international cyber fraud scheme, during which more than $2.4 million in business wire transfers, were diverted, two Nigerians who were serving in the United States Air Force have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison.
The convicts, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu, 25, and Harafat Mogaji, 26, both residents of Delaware, were sentenced after being convicted for their involvement in a nearly two-year cyber intrusion operation targeting businesses across the United States.
The United States Department of Justice disclosed this in a statement, saying both men were members of the US Air Force at the time of the offences.
According to prosecutors, Odimegwu and Mogaji worked with co-conspirators in the United States and abroad to obtain usernames and passwords of employees through email-spamming and phishing campaigns.
The stolen credentials were subsequently used alongside spoofed email addresses designed to resemble those of victims or their business partners.
Prosecutors revealed that the technique enabled the conspiracy to deceive businesses and redirect legitimate payments into bank accounts controlled by members of the group.
Court evidence showed that the defendants helped divert more than $1.68 million in a wire transfer from a victim in Iowa City to a Chicago bank account controlled by the conspiracy.
They also helped divert more than $720,000 from another victim in Ohio to an account controlled by the group.
The Justice Department said the transactions were among numerous attempts by the conspirators to redirect legitimate business wire transfers from companies in Iowa and other parts of the United States.
Beyond business email compromise, prosecutors said the defendants harvested sensitive financial information through their phishing campaigns, including bank account details, personal identification numbers, as well as credit and debit card information.
One of the victims was a nonprofit organisation in Pella, Iowa, whose credit card information was obtained by members of the conspiracy.
The stolen financial information was subsequently exchanged among the conspirators and used, or attempts were made to use it, for unauthorised purchases and other financial transactions.
Odimegwu was sentenced to 111 months, equivalent to nine years and three months, in federal prison and ordered to pay $366,617.59 in restitution.
Mogaji, on the other hand, was sentenced to 78 months, or six years and six months, in federal prison and ordered to pay $995,680.45 in restitution.
Following their sentencing, both men were taken into custody and will each serve three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
The convictions underscore the growing use of phishing and business email compromise techniques to infiltrate corporate communications and divert legitimate payments.
Such cyber-enabled fraud schemes can target businesses, nonprofit organisations and other entities across jurisdictions, often relying on stolen credentials and deceptive email communications to manipulate legitimate financial transactions.
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