A Nigerian man has been extradited to the US from France in connection with hacking, fraud and identity theft offenses.
The US Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, named the man as 39-year-old Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu who also goes by the names Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo and So Kwan Leung.
“Amachukwu allegedly operated multiple illicit fraud schemes – identity theft, computer intrusions via spear phishing and false investments – profiting at the costs of others,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia.
“If you are attempting to enrich yourself by scamming Americans from behind a keyboard, the FBI with our extensive law enforcement partnerships is willing and able to bring you to the United States to face justice,” Raia said.
Amachukwu is alleged to be connected to a scheme to hack into US tax businesses, trade in stolen identifying information of victims and defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other governmental bodies.
He is also accused of taking part in a separate fraud scheme that promised victims investments that did not exist.
Fraudulent Tax Returns Earns Criminals Millions
The fraud scheme began in 2019 and Amachukwu worked with co-conspirator Kinglsey Uchelue Utulu and other Nigeria-based collaborators.
The group hacked into US-based tax preparation businesses and used spear phishing emails to obtain access to the firms’ electronic systems.
Once they had obtained access, the conspirators stole the tax and other identifying information of thousands of the business’ customers.
This information was used to file fraudulent tax returns with the IRS and state tax authorities.
The conspirators sought fraudulent refunds of at least approximately $8.4m, of which they successfully obtained at least approximately $2.5m, according to the US Attorney's Office.
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 program.
The conspirators were able to obtain at least an additional $819,000 in fraudulent payouts.
Amachukwu has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; two counts of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.
Any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.