Two Nigerians have been sentenced to prison by a US federal
court for their involvement in wire fraud.
Franklin Okwonna, 34, and Ebuka Umeti, 35, were convicted
for causing over $5 million in losses to multiple victims in the US and
elsewhere.
A statement by the US department of justice on Tuesday said
Okwonna pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated
identity theft” on May 20 and was sentenced to five years and three months in
prison.
Umeti was convicted on June 13 and sentenced on August 27 to
10 years in prison.
Both men were asked to pay “nearly $5 million” each as
restitution.
“According to court documents and evidence presented at
Umeti’s trial, between February 2016 and July 2021, Umeti, Okwonna, and their
co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in unauthorized wire transfers by
sending victim businesses phishing emails,” the statement reads.
“These emails falsely appeared as though they originated
from trusted sources, such as a bank or a vendor.
“After the victim
opened an attachment, their computers would be infected with malicious software,
or “malware,” that allowed the defendants and their co-conspirators to gain
unauthorized access to the victim’s computer systems and email accounts.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators then exploited
that access to obtain sensitive information, which they used to deceive
individuals at the victim companies into executing wire transfers to accounts
specified by the co-conspirators.
“As a result of this scheme, the defendants and their
co-conspirators caused or attempted to cause over $5 million in losses to the
victim companies.”
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