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A 40-year-old Nigerian man, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, has been sentenced to eight years in prison in the United States, US for his involvement in multiple fraud, computer hacking and identity theft schemes.
Amachukwu, also known as “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.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced the sentence, adding that Amachukwu was also ordered to pay $3,647,629.39 in restitution and forfeit $10,846,634.39.
According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office, Amachukwu was involved in schemes targeting American businesses and individuals, including the hacking of tax preparation firms and the use of stolen identities to obtain fraudulent government
payments.
“Chukwuemeka Amachukwu believed he was operating safely offshore when he targeted his victims, but he has now been held to account and now faces a serious sentence for his crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald.
“Amachukwu took part in sophisticated schemes to hack into U.S. businesses, steal and use stolen identity information of victims, and commit fraud. These crimes imposed significant harm on the victims and the public, and so it is only appropriate that the
crimes also come with a significant sentence for the defendant.
According to superseding indictments, public court filings and statements made in court, Amachukwu, his co-conspirator Kingsley Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based individuals began targeting US tax preparation businesses in or around 2019.
The group allegedly used spear-phishing emails to gain access to the electronic systems of the businesses.
After gaining access, they stole tax records and other identifying information belonging to approximately 800 customers of the targeted businesses.
The tax preparation firms were located in New York, Texas and other parts of the United States.
The conspirators subsequently obtained the personal information of thousands of individuals and used it to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities.
The US authorities said the group sought fraudulent tax refunds totalling approximately $8.4 million and successfully obtained at least $2.5 million.
Beyond the tax fraud scheme, Amachukwu and his co-conspirators allegedly used stolen identities to submit fraudulent applications under the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme.
The group obtained approximately $819,000 through the fraudulent claims, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
The programme was established to provide financial assistance to eligible businesses affected by economic hardship. The conspirators allegedly exploited it by using stolen personal information to seek payments to which they were not entitled.
In addition to his eight-year prison term, Amachukwu was sentenced to one year of supervised release following his imprisonment.
He was also ordered to pay $3,647,629.39 in restitution to victims and forfeit $10,846,634.39.
The US Attorney’s Office credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its work on the case.
The prosecution was handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, with Assistant US Attorney Daniel G. Nessim in charge.
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