By John Ogunsemore
A Nigerian man, Kingsley Uchelue Utulu, has been jailed for five years and ordered to pay restitution of $3,683,029.39 for his role in a broad hacking, fraud, and identity theft scheme that cost US-based businesses and individuals more than $3.3 million in losses.
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher G. Raia, announced the convict’s sentencing.
According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court, from 2019, Utulu and other Nigeria-based conspirators took part in a scheme to hack into US-based tax preparation businesses and used spearphishing emails to obtain access to these businesses’ electronic systems.
Prosecutors said the conspirators hacked into several US-based tax businesses, located in New York, Texas, and other states.
Once they had obtained access, the conspirators stole the tax and other identifying information of the businesses’ customers.
Having obtained the stolen identity information of thousands of individuals, they used this information to file fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state tax authorities.
The court heard that the conspirators sought fraudulent refunds of at least approximately $8.4 million, of which they successfully obtained at least approximately $2.5 million.
Prosecutors further said that in addition to filing fraudulent tax returns, the conspirators used the stolen identities to file fraudulent claims with the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme and were able to obtain at least an additional approximately $819,000 in fraudulent payouts.
Utulu was arrested for his involvement in this scheme while being present in the United Kingdom and was thereafter extradited to the US to be prosecuted.
US District Judge Paul G. Gardephe on Friday sentenced 38-year-old Utulu to 63 months (five years and three months) in prison after he pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
In addition to the prison term, the convict was ordered to pay restitution in an amount of $3,683,029.39 and forfeiture in the amount of $290,250.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said, “Kingsley Uchelue Utulu took part in a scheme to hack into US tax preparation businesses, trade in the stolen personal identifying information, and defraud the IRS and other governmental bodies.
“Offshore scammers like Utulu and his co-conspirators may think they can target hard-working Americans with their hacking and fraud schemes and avoid prosecution. The message from the Department and the FBI is clear, they cannot. We are committed to protecting Americans from criminals operating offshore.”