Sagns Nigerian for five years in US prison for a tax fraud of $ 2.5 million

A Federal Court of the United States sentenced the Nigerian national team Kingsley Utulu to five years and three months in prison for his involvement in an operation of hacking theft and wide -ranging identity that has chosen the United States government and private individuals of over $ 2.5 million.

The sentence was announced by the American lawyer for the southern district of New York, Jay Clayton, together with the deputy director of the New York office of the FBI in office, Christopher Raia.

Utulu had previously declared himself guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud wires and theft of aggravated identity.

According to public prosecutors, Utulu was part of a sophisticated system that aimed at tax preparation companies based in the United States. Using the techniques of Spearphishing, Utulu and its co-Sosti, many based in Nigeria, have given up on the unauthorized access to the systems of companies, stealing sensitive personal and financial data belonging to customers.

“Kingsley Uchelue Utulu played a significant role in a criminal company that violated the tax preparation activities and exploited the stolen information to frowned the IRS and other agencies,” said Clayton.

“This case sends a strong message: international scammers are not outside the reach of the US law enforcement agencies.”

The FBI official Raia added that the group has exploited the weaknesses in computer security systems for financial income, causing serious damage.

“Utuu and its members infiltrated electronic systems and presented fraudulent tax declarations using stolen identities,” he said.

“Their global scheme highlights the continuous threat of cyber qualified financial crimes.”

The court documents and a Databreaches.net report showed that the scheme began in 2019.

Hackers have violated more tax companies in New York, Texas and other states.

The stolen data were used to present false tax return, looking for reimbursements for a total of at least $ 8.4 million, with about $ 2.5 million successfully obtained.

In addition, the conspirators submitted fraudulent questions with the loan program for the disasters for economic injuries (EIDL) of the US Small Business Administration, ensuring about $ 819,000 in Covid-19 rescue funds.

Utulu, 38 years old, was arrested in the United Kingdom and subsequently extradited to the United States.

In addition to his prison sentence of 63 months, he was ordered to pay over 3.68 million dollars in return and to give up $ 290,250.

His sentence is added to an increasing list of Nigerians pursued internationally for Frame Cyber. At the beginning of this year, two other Nigerian citizens, Olutayo Ogunlaja and Abel Daramola, were sentenced to the United States for orchestrating a $ 560,000 romantic scam and have now faced up to 20 years of prison.

promptnews

Related